B.S Exercise Physiology. ask me your training questions

[SitchNoHomo]

Do you have any tips for long distance runners?

Staying free of injury, optimize running etc?

[bpumper45]

Why am I weaker off the floor when I deadlift? Is it weak glute/hams/lowerback? How can I improve that range?

[yourfuzzybear]

Let's touch on anatomy real quick. You have a good grasp on anatomy so far so you should be able to follow.

There are many terms used to describe spinal disc pathology and associated pain, such as "herniated disc," "pinched nerve," and "bulging disc," and all are used differently and, at times, interchangeably. I like to stay up to date with the broad terms so i know when i hear it. Anyway, a bulging disc is when the disc that is filled with a jelly like goo protrudes and pushes on the nerve (which is generally protected by the vertebrae) that touches the nerve that branches there. The brain, brain stem and the spinal chord are called the central nervous system. Any other nerve is in the Peripheral nervous system. So if you have a bulging disk, then the problem is in the spine, but since it involves a central nerve, EVERYTHING that THAT SPECIFIC nerve innervates will feel the nerve pain. And Nerve Pain is a WHOLE DIFFERENT beast than musculoskeletal pain.

What generally causes this is when you bend over, rather than bend at the knees, and your back is straight. This raises your center of gravity from just above your hips up to your thoracic vert. And given that MOST people have weak core muscles, which support the low back, when they add weight and try to do this, then welcome to the back pain club.

It sounds like yours isnt all that bad in the low back. Middle back, i'm not really sure. Have you seen any xrays? Your upper back sounds like you need some chiropractic adjustment. how strong is your upper back? Generally, the stronger the muscles are, the more stable the joints are but the back can be a different story.

Low back: can you do abs? what about your legs? Do you have strong and developed hamstrings? Because they need to be proportional to your quads. When your quads are significantly stronger than your hams, then that will almost definitely lead to knee and hip tracking problem. And given that the low back, glutes, hams and calves are all in the same kinetic chain, when one is weak, the others have to work harder to do day to day stuff as well as prevent injury. Take a look at a pair of worn in shoes and see what your wear pattern is like. If they are worn on the outside more, then you over pronate when you walk. If the inside is more worn, then you under supinate. A cheap pair of shoes can trigger knee, hip and low back issues.

For now, dont miss your PT sessions. Try stretching more. Start by rolling your foot on a tennis ball. You can freeze the ball if your feet hurt. Once your feet are good and relaxed, stretch the calves, then hams, then low back. you start from the ground, where all of our kinetic every comes from, then go up the kinetic chain. This won't help your middle back but middle back pain is more preferred than low back. And keep me posted ont he middle back stuff. i have a lot of middle back pain, but i have an 18 degree lateral curve in mine.

Oh..almost forgot. Your sciatica pain seems to me to be more similar to axial pain. When a patient has a symptomatic degenerated disc (one that causes low back pain and/or leg pain), it is the disc space itself that is painful and the source of pain. This type of pain is typically called axial pain. I'm really not well versed in axial pain and issues, but i'll do some reading.

You're right - my lower back doesn't have quite as much pain as my mid-upper back. Still feels the need to be popped all the time, though. And I would prefer to not have that feeling anywhere in my body in the future, especially at 20 years old.

I don't feel as though any pain is triggered when I bend over. I feel like I'm very mobile, generally, but as I sit or sleep I wake up feeling like a crumpled up piece of paper and to get back to normal, I need to crack everything and do an hour+ of stretching/mobility, only to feel crumpled up again hours later. Maybe that's just how it works, though.

I can do abs and have been doing them during my self-physical therapy sessions. Harder abs, around 20-25 minutes worth 3-4x a week and lighter abs the other few days. Planks, side planks, dead bugs, the upper/lower extremity extension on all fours, abdominal vacuums, mostly all of these with precise form.
As for hamstrings, yes, I focus on hamstrings and I normally think they're stronger than my quads. Haven't been able to lift in 3-4 months or so now, so it's hard to say. But when I am lifting, usually my hamstrings seem stronger in proportion (ie. romanian deadlift 225ib for 3 reps / while squatting 245 for 3 reps... not sure if that's proportional).

That's interesting you say that about the kinetic chain. I have heard of that before but not the concept of stretching in order from the ground up.
I do walk on the outsides of my feet for some reason, and it bugs me. It's always been hard to walk in sandals or flip flops for me. I've been rolling my feet out on lacrosse balls and stretching every muscle in my body, but I'll start doing it from the ground up now. Any exercises/stretches I should focus on to improve my posture/how I walk, if it really is bad for my knees/hips?

This morning I actually woke up with more pain than I have had in the past 5-6 days since I started taking the supplements. Just the need to pop whatever in my mid-upper back. Super irritating. I'm going to schedule a doctor's appointment for Friday and see if I can get an X-ray / MRI scheduled even though it won't be as good a doctor as one I could see back home.

Thanks a lot for your advice man, I'll keep you posted on here

[tank2003]

Tankbrus,

Glute activation has made my squat so much better
Lat activation has made my bench so much better

What kind of activation if any would be beneficial for the deadlift? (conventional) Quad maybe? since i feel its almost dormant for me


edit: for the purpose of producing maximal force

People that ego lift dont usually thin much of synergistic muscles, especially ego lifters. On BP, all we strive for is a barrel chest and cannon ball delts, but we dont think about stabilizers like biceps and lats. i don't blame people though. Most of what they know is acquired through trial and error, where as a guy like myself, i have +15 years of Iron under my belt PLUS my years of school. Which is why i have created this thread. Tryin to get you meat heads to look at weight training from the inside of the body out.

Ok. deadlift. It is a somewhat unique lift because when you compare it to something like a squat where there is a CLEAR eccentric and concentric phase, the DL has almost no eccentric phase. The eccentric phase is where you stretch and tear your muscles so the body rebuilds it back bigger and stronger. You COULD consider the act of squatting down as the eccentric phase but when there is almost no resistance, it does no good. You said that glute training bumped your squat up, what about your hip thrusts? When you deadlift, you flex at the feet (plantar flexion), the knees and the hip. Your stance should be like this: Head ALWAYS up, Your back must ALWAYS BE STRAIGHT. You round your back at all and you are asking for trouble. Shoulders pulled back so your chest pokes out, hips MUST be square, knees are kind of subjective but always make sure they are not flapping and feet should be anchored to the floor. Picture yourself pumping those reps out, 1 by 1. Walk your mind through it from the time you look down at the weights and begin to take your stance. Slow it all down. Take the BIGGEST breaths you can, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Keep doing this until you are about to hyperventilate. This kicks out the excess CO2 from your blood and increases nitrogen accumulation (opens the blood vessels). If you don't have goosebumps, then keep breathing and walking yourself through the motions until you get them. Your adrenaline will already amp up BEFORE you lift rather than a few reps in. A few seconds prior to beginning, tighten your core and keep it that way. This actually helps you regulate breathing and decreases injury likelihood.
Here is a video tip for setting up for DL:

Elliot HUlse does a good job of breaking it down:

Besides hip thrust ability, how do your legs look? You need to be isolating your core muscles, glutes, hams and quads. Do unilateral (one leg at a time) reps if you need to in order to feel like you are REALLY hitting the muscles. Your hams and quads should be proportional in strength. Meaning, your quads should be about 1.5 time stronger. Any more, and you WILL eventually have low back issues and/or knee tracking problems. Take a step back and REALLY see if you have some muscle imbalances that can effect training. My BEST advice is to go kamikaze when you deadlift and legs in general. You will only get better the more you practice. Just be safe, don't use momentum to squeeze reps in, just your own capabilities. Hit those iso's with a vengeance for a while and insure that nothing is lacking. I will keep looking into this and if i come up with something useful, then i'll get it to you. Best of luck bro. Keep me posted! Nothing motivates me more to keep going than to hear the feedback (especially good feedback) from you guys.

Do you have any tips for long distance runners?

Staying free of injury, optimize running etc?

Hmm...LDR'ing is one of the "lost capabilities" of humans. In places in africa, they hunt by running animals to death. One runner follows the animal, and the others track by following signs left by the runner. One key to long distance running is
1: Practice - getting your body use to it, which yours probably is.
2. Strict control over breathing - If you FORCE yourself to breath in through your nose and out through your mouth, then the burn from lactic acid build up won't be so bad. It also helps speed up LA buffering as well. Its a bitch to do though because it feels like it slowly slips out of your control as your muscles get more and more taxed, but it can be done
3. No wasted motions. Run with your hands open and not balled up in a fist. You'll look ghey as every miscer in here, but think about the kcals you will save by not doing it.

To avoid injury:
1. Mix up your running surface. When you walk or run, when you heel strike, you are putting force and energy into the ground, and the ground will respond with an equal amount, which is called the Ground Reaction force. On cement, the energy can flow upwards through the cement faster and more efficient than say...sand. The GRF is still equal, but the sand absorbs a lot, which makes running harder. However, cement is THE WORST running surface because it is very detrimental since it is so solid. It is the leading cause of plantarfasciitis in runners, as well as shin splints (where the muscle over your shin called the tibialis anterior, becomes inflamed and tries to pull away from the shin), knee/hip/low back pain. The GRF has to dissipate somewhere, and ideally, you want it to die out throughout your whole body. But the force can become focused on areas like the knee, shin or feet if you run on cement often. ideally, a running track is the best surface because it won't beat you to death, but isnt so soft that you tire after 100 yards. Just make sure you reverse course if you decide to track run. Most, if not all tracks, have you run clock wise and counter from day to day to keep you from developing stress fractures in your hips, which tend to be permanent injuries

2. Work on your discipline. Control that breathing. You control your breathing and your HR will stabilize at a lower rate than if you didnt control your breathing. Keeping your HR low and help increase stroke volume, which is the amount of blood that is pumped per beat, which is MUY BIEN.
3. Keep an eye on your shoes. I cant remember how many miles each pair should have on them, but you can pay attention to the wear pattern on them. Look at an old pair and see where the wear patterns are. you want a neutral wear, and not an over pronated wear (where the wear is on the outisde; usually fatties do this) or under supinated (wear on the inside of the shoe)

Why am I weaker off the floor when I deadlift? Is it weak glute/hams/lowerback? How can I improve that range?

The deadlift is a very complex motion. Its a lot of jopints and muscles that need to work in unison to achieve efficient motion. You need to take a look at your form, break it down into phases, and then try and look for the culprit. Film yourself doing the reps, but do take note of how fatigued you were when doing those sets. That is the best way to see if there is a weak muscle group. Look up above where i hit DL'ing. Alan Thrall does great videos on what to do vs what not to do

You're right - my lower back doesn't have quite as much pain as my mid-upper back. Still feels the need to be popped all the time, though. And I would prefer to not have that feeling anywhere in my body in the future, especially at 20 years old.

I don't feel as though any pain is triggered when I bend over. I feel like I'm very mobile, generally, but as I sit or sleep I wake up feeling like a crumpled up piece of paper and to get back to normal, I need to crack everything and do an hour+ of stretching/mobility, only to feel crumpled up again hours later. Maybe that's just how it works, though.

I can do abs and have been doing them during my self-physical therapy sessions. Harder abs, around 20-25 minutes worth 3-4x a week and lighter abs the other few days. Planks, side planks, dead bugs, the upper/lower extremity extension on all fours, abdominal vacuums, mostly all of these with precise form.
As for hamstrings, yes, I focus on hamstrings and I normally think they're stronger than my quads. Haven't been able to lift in 3-4 months or so now, so it's hard to say. But when I am lifting, usually my hamstrings seem stronger in proportion (ie. romanian deadlift 225ib for 3 reps / while squatting 245 for 3 reps... not sure if that's proportional).

That's interesting you say that about the kinetic chain. I have heard of that before but not the concept of stretching in order from the ground up.
I do walk on the outsides of my feet for some reason, and it bugs me. It's always been hard to walk in sandals or flip flops for me. I've been rolling my feet out on lacrosse balls and stretching every muscle in my body, but I'll start doing it from the ground up now. Any exercises/stretches I should focus on to improve my posture/how I walk, if it really is bad for my knees/hips?

This morning I actually woke up with more pain than I have had in the past 5-6 days since I started taking the supplements. Just the need to pop whatever in my mid-upper back. Super irritating. I'm going to schedule a doctor's appointment for Friday and see if I can get an X-ray / MRI scheduled even though it won't be as good a doctor as one I could see back home.

Thanks a lot for your advice man, I'll keep you posted on here

I think stretching will help, at least some. And its best to regard stretching as important as hitting bench press or db curls. At this point, the only thing i can suggest is maybe getting a foam roller. I have one, and sometimes it is the only thing that will pop my messed up back. Here are some videos to maybe get you in a more correct direction:
This is Dr. Joe, i sent her my MRI results from a few years ago to try and explain why i was having even more painful symptoms of a herniated disc, when the MRI revealed no bulging. I told her exactly what all had to be done during my surgery and she made a suggestion of scar tissue build up from all the extra chit my doc had to do and in the end, she called it right.

[JamesA1990]

People that ego lift dont usually thin much of synergistic muscles, especially ego lifters. On BP, all we strive for is a barrel chest and cannon ball delts, but we dont think about stabilizers like biceps and lats. i don't blame people though.

I try to take a very scientific view to lifting, as i am the penultimate ego-lifter (powerlifter). I do care about that sh*t, im all about the stabilisers

You said that glute training bumped your squat up, what about your hip thrusts?

I havent ever done hip thrusts, mostly cos they look really homo and heard that they have very little carry over, but it couldnt hurt!

When you deadlift, you flex at the feet (plantar flexion), the knees and the hip.

I dont mean to be a ******* miscer but what do you mean flex? do you mean bend? Bend the foot? Do you mean bend at the ankle? because that makes sense i agree

Your stance should be like this: Head ALWAYS up, Your back must ALWAYS BE STRAIGHT. You round your back at all and you are asking for trouble. Shoulders pulled back so your chest pokes out, hips MUST be square

This differs to what i've learnt, wouldnt head up put you under more strain? Wouldnt a neutral head be more comfortable and strong? Yes agreed back must be straight (neutral). Back rounding eh yes it is more dangerous, at the advantage or better leverage off the floor. RE: Shoulders pulled back, do you mean shoulders pulled back behind the bar, or shoulder retracted and poking your chest out like a bench press? Surely reducing your arm length by retracting your shoulders would make the deadlift harder and put you in a less optimal starting position, besides a heavy load say 500+ lbs would just force your shoulders to hang anyway. Hips square is a big one, sometimes when i bend down my right arm grabs the bar first, then i lean over and grab with my left arm and sometimes pull up too quickly before getting square (i do a semi grip n rip style) which causes a bit of imbalance

Slow it all down. Take the BIGGEST breaths you can, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Keep doing this until you are about to hyperventilate. This kicks out the excess CO2 from your blood and increases nitrogen accumulation (opens the blood vessels). If you don't have goosebumps, then keep breathing and walking yourself through the motions until you get them. Your adrenaline will already amp up BEFORE you lift rather than a few reps in. A few seconds prior to beginning, tighten your core and keep it that way. This actually helps you regulate breathing and decreases injury likelihood.

I like this a lot. I do take multi hard and fast breaths right before i tighten, but they arnt slow and they certainly arnt the biggest breaths i could do. I feel though if i take massive breaths, then the whole process would take way longer and i would lose that adrenaline. (talking heavy single rep deadlift here). As i approach the bar and plant my feet i can already feel that goosebump feeling, then take 3 pretty quick short sharp breathes and it seems to go alright. I used to take slower, longer breathes so ill try that again too. Below is a deadlift for a week ago

Besides hip thrust ability, how do your legs look? You need to be isolating your core muscles, glutes, hams and quads. Do unilateral (one leg at a time) reps if you need to in order to feel like you are REALLY hitting the muscles. Your hams and quads should be proportional in strength. Meaning, your quads should be about 1.5 time stronger. Any more, and you WILL eventually have low back issues and/or knee tracking problems. Take a step back and REALLY see if you have some muscle imbalances that can effect training.

How can i measure or test my quads vs my hammies? If i had to guess i would actually say my hammies are stronger than my quads?? Being a low bar squatting, and conventional deadlifter

My BEST advice is to go kamikaze when you deadlift and legs in general. You will only get better the more you practice. Just be safe, don't use momentum to squeeze reps in, just your own capabilities. Hit those iso's with a vengeance for a while and insure that nothing is lacking. I will keep looking into this and if i come up with something useful, then i'll get it to you. Best of luck bro. Keep me posted! Nothing motivates me more to keep going than to hear the feedback (especially good feedback) from you guys.

Wait wut do you like go full retard? I appreciate the long reply and discussion man. What im looking for might not even exist and i havent even done much research myself yet, but what i was after was a warm up routine / activation routine that would benefit the deadlift in the same way that bodyweight squats with a band around my knees activiates my glutes and makes squatting directly after feel great, and doing band pull-aparts and lat engagement stretching THEN benching makes benching feel awesome

[MikeWines]

Your stance should be like this:
- Head ALWAYS up
- Your back must ALWAYS BE STRAIGHT. You round your back at all and you are asking for trouble.
- Shoulders pulled back so your chest pokes out

Hmmm not sure I'd agree with any of those actually...

[tank2003]

Hmmm not sure I'd agree with any of those actually...

lol. what? Why not? Shoulder pulled back fully activates the traps, head up keeps the back straight and keep your back from rounding

[theACEofSPADES]

Hmmm not sure I'd agree with any of those actually...

lol. what? Why not? Shoulder pulled back fully activates the traps, head up keeps the back straight and keep your back from rounding

[tank2003]

I dont mean to be a ******* miscer but what do you mean flex? do you mean bend? Bend the foot? Do you mean bend at the ankle? because that makes sense i agree

Flexion is the motion of closing the angle of a joint.
Extension is increasing the angle of the joint.

When it comes to the feet and wrosts, there is no extension, just plantar (for the feet; palmar for the wrist) and dorsi flexion beaus the angle of the joint only gets smaller.

This differs to what i've learnt, wouldnt head up put you under more strain? Wouldnt a neutral head be more comfortable and strong? Yes agreed back must be straight (neutral). Back rounding eh yes it is more dangerous, at the advantage or better leverage off the floor. RE: Shoulders pulled back, do you mean shoulders pulled back behind the bar, or shoulder retracted and poking your chest out like a bench press? Surely reducing your arm length by retracting your shoulders would make the deadlift harder and put you in a less optimal starting position, besides a heavy load say 500+ lbs would just force your shoulders to hang anyway. Hips square is a big one, sometimes when i bend down my right arm grabs the bar first, then i lean over and grab with my left arm and sometimes pull up too quickly before getting square (i do a semi grip n rip style) which causes a bit of imbalance

What i meant by pulling your shoulders back is adducting your scapulas. Bring them together. This will take some load off the rotator cuffs and fully active the traps. Most people dont know that you need to do this to accurately hit traps and you dont do a rolling motion, just up and down. Also, pulling your shoulders back keeps the shoulders taut and not hanging. Its not a good idea to hold heavy weights in your hands without using your delts and rotator cuff to stabalize the shoulder.

Your head position has little to no effect on leverage. The weight is what is pulling you forward, and your upper body is what is resisting it. In football, you have to watch what you are tackling. Tackle without that and you'll break your neck. its not quite so serious in a DL. But keeping that head up allows the rib cage to expand and draw in more air as well as let the pectoralis minor pull the clavicle down and do the same (but the pec minor usually only activates when you are forcebreathing).

How can i measure or test my quads vs my hammies? If i had to guess i would actually say my hammies are stronger than my quads?? Being a low bar squatting, and conventional deadlifter

There isnt really a difinitive way to measure or test either. Its really more along the lines of not neglecting one group, and trying to keep an eye on unilateral reps. That is the best way ive found to keep a good judgement. Your hams do bend the knee, but they also help extend the hips and low back, which is why its necessary to hit those. I will look into this some and i doubt i will, but if i find somethign on this specifically, i'll be sure to let you know.

Wait wut do you like go full retard? I appreciate the long reply and discussion man. What im looking for might not even exist and i havent even done much research myself yet, but what i was after was a warm up routine / activation routine that would benefit the deadlift in the same way that bodyweight squats with a band around my knees activiates my glutes and makes squatting directly after feel great, and doing band pull-aparts and lat engagement stretching THEN benching makes benching feel awesome

well, full SJW Retard mode is too extreme.i put it that way because 9 out of 10 of lifters neglect their legs and severely neglect their hams. I think i mentioned going balls out on DLs for practice too. I meant this as, since it is a weak spot, it may just be a biomechanical issue. Maybe you are setting up wrong or not correctly getting all the muscles and joints to cooperate. recording your workouts is a handy way to evaluate and see where there is room for improvement.

[tank2003]

school is in session....

[MikeWines]

lol. what? Why not? Shoulder pulled back fully activates the traps, head up keeps the back straight and keep your back from rounding

I'm not saying they're wrong and we may be talking semantics for some of them (shoulders back vs. down) but I think all of them are context dependent.

If you're talking scapular depresssion, then yeah I would agree with you. However, if you were referring to scapular retraction, then I'm not sure I would agree as you're increasing the ROM for the lift and you won't be able to hold that position under maximal loads.



Looking up drives spinal extension which can be good for performance (arguably needed for performance actually) but at the same time, if the individual is heavily lordotic then looking up may be contraindicated. If that's the case then that individual would need to learn how to pack the neck which I described further in this article:

"As I mentioned before, you spine is somewhat like a rope � adjust one area and there may be ensuing �waves� at other areas.

In the case of the neck, cervical extension results in lumbar extension due to reflexive erector spinae recruitment.

To quote great physical therapist and strength coach Charlie Weingroff,

�a �packed� neck is strong cervical retrusion with capital flexion.�

Many misinterpret the idea of a �packed neck� as correlating with looking down but in actuality you�re trying to generate retraction of your cranium on the cervical spine.

Jim Wendler simplified the concept by relating it to the idea of wearing a backwards baseball hat and trying to push the bill into the wall behind without tilting your head up or down.

This movement is often accompanied with thoracic spine extension in overhead lifts in order to move the head out of the way and allow the bar to move in a straight line.

I�m sure you�re wondering why small deviations make such a big difference but Mel Siff put it rather succinctly in his book Supertraining:

�Correct positioning of the head will ensure that the back assumes the posture where trunk stabilization is shared between the erector muscles and the spinal ligaments. Action of the eyes is closely related to the action of the head, so it is essential to facilitate correct positioning.�

However, just because one tucks the chin doesn�t mean that they have to keep the eyes down.

Many times oral-facial drivers can play a much larger role than most people realize due to the influence of the vestibulo-ocular reflex.

This reflex occurs in order to optimize vision during movement of the head by stabilizing the line of sight.

So, in this case you�ve dropped your line of sight as your chest hinged to the floor but you can keep a neutral ocular position based upon the positioning your eyes.

Therefore, after you have retracted the chin, keep your eyes up like you�re trying to look out of the top of your eye sockets in order to capitalize on this reflex."

However, if someone is more kyphotic, then looking up can be very beneficial. It's a spectrum and I always look at cueing on a highly individual basis.

https://www.muscleforlife.com/deadlifting-tips/

In terms of your back needing to be perfectly straight and never bend, I think that depends on loading and curvature of the thoracic spine. The thoracic spine has a natural curvature but aside from that, many lifters pull with a rounded thoracic spine without issues. Not to mention, gymnastics utilize full flexion lifts (i.e. Jefferson curl) which have actually shown marked benefits of being able to control graded spinal movements under load due to the specificity.



Also, I think you can run into issues when trying to coach someone into a ramrod straight position.

"The thoracic spine has a natural curvature of 35-40 degrees in both genders while the lumbar spine has a natural arch of 3-5 degrees in males and 5-7 degrees in females. In other words, your spine has a natural curvature which you�ve possessed since birth.

In order to generate proper apical expansion, you must be able to drive air into your posterior mediastinum (area located just behind the heart).

However, this won�t occur if you�re trying to make your spine perfectly straight, your scapula are depressed or retracted, your pelvis is anteriorly tilted, or you exhibit a forward head posture.

If the spine is globally extended (anteriorly tipped pelvis, flat thoracic spine, lordotic lumbar spine, etc.), you will lose congruency between the pelvic floor and diaphragm.

When this occurs, individuals have a higher chance of using the accessory musculature within the upper chest to pull air into the lungs and externally rotate the ribs.

As such, you�ll primarily drive air into the anterior mediastinum and reinforce the extension bias which will just compound the issue even further.

To put things succinctly, altering spinal neutrality during your deadlift setup will influence inspiratory capacity by limiting complete internal rotation of the ribs and thus decrease subsequent intra-abdominal pressure."

https://www.muscleandstrength.com/ar...s-for-5-plates

I don't say all this to accuse you of being wrong, but to generate discussion and learn from others. See what they have to say about specific concepts and bounce ideas back and forth. I'm not here to prove anything, I want to learn from others in my field who may have differing ideas.

[tank2003]

I'm not saying they're wrong and we may be talking semantics for some of them (shoulders back vs. down) but I think all of them are context dependent.

If you're talking scapular depresssion, then yeah I would agree with you. However, if you were referring to scapular retraction, then I'm not sure I would agree as you're increasing the ROM for the lift and you won't be able to hold that position under maximal loads.



Looking up drives spinal extension which can be good for performance (arguably needed for performance actually) but at the same time, if the individual is heavily lordotic then looking up may be contraindicated. If that's the case then that individual would need to learn how to pack the neck which I described further in this article:



However, if someone is more kyphotic, then looking up can be very beneficial. It's a spectrum and I always look at cueing on a highly individual basis.

https://www.muscleforlife.com/deadlifting-tips/

In terms of your back needing to be perfectly straight and never bend, I think that depends on loading and curvature of the thoracic spine. The thoracic spine has a natural curvature but aside from that, many lifters pull with a rounded thoracic spine without issues. Not to mention, gymnastics utilize full flexion lifts (i.e. Jefferson curl) which have actually shown marked benefits of being able to control graded spinal movements under load due to the specificity.



Also, I think you can run into issues when trying to coach someone into a ramrod straight position.



https://www.muscleandstrength.com/ar...s-for-5-plates

I don't say all this to accuse you of being wrong, but to generate discussion and learn from others. See what they have to say about specific concepts and bounce ideas back and forth. I'm not here to prove anything, I want to learn from others in my field who may have differing ideas.

Ok..i see where you are going with this. This is almost like turning your head to the side to look at a picture differently. Perhaps, my strict rules for an erect spine stems from my chronic back issues. I've found that what ive spoken of, has benefited me greatly, but perhaps it is not ideal for the whole group.

I have had a tendency to take a quick step back and slow things down when i am about to go for a max or my last set that i know will kick my ass if i dont kick it first. And this is where keeping my head up has helped me. My back is stronger than my chest, but my core (especially my low back) lacks because I have hips that are misaligned my almost .5" and my spine curves to compensate so that my eyes are level. it is my belief that this was a predisposition to me herniating and then rupturing my l5/s1 and kick started that REAL pain

[MikeWines]

Ok..i see where you are going with this. This is almost like turning your head to the side to look at a picture differently. Perhaps, my strict rules for an erect spine stems from my chronic back issues. I've found that what ive spoken of, has benefited me greatly, but perhaps it is not ideal for the whole group.

I have had a tendency to take a quick step back and slow things down when i am about to go for a max or my last set that i know will kick my ass if i dont kick it first. And this is where keeping my head up has helped me. My back is stronger than my chest, but my core (especially my low back) lacks because I have hips that are misaligned my almost .5" and my spine curves to compensate so that my eyes are level. it is my belief that this was a predisposition to me herniating and then rupturing my l5/s1 and kick started that REAL pain

Ah I see. I am the same and must be careful to not let personal biases creep into my recommendations for others. Just curiously, which leg was shorter?

[tank2003]

Ah I see. I am the same and must be careful to not let personal biases creep into my recommendations for others. Just curiously, which leg was shorter?

Indeed. I just assumed that it it helped me being a bad back brah, then it should help everyone. I need to get my notes out from college. I've been out for far too long

[goingnorth]

You had 65 ml/kg/min @ 243 lbs (110 kg)? That equals ~7.2 l/min which is extreme and way more than most endurance athletes. And you can't "push" yourself to a high VO2max; your ability to consume oxygen is what it is, no matter how "hard" you are.

May I ask which equipment you used and how you calculated your output (i.e. if you average x amount of values or just picked a high outlier)?

[Bonnappe]

How deep should one go and what should the ankle and the knee angle be on a single leg leg press for maximal quad hypertrophy? And what is in your opinion the best single legged exercises for quad growth?

What are your opinions on piston reps vs. reps with a slight pause at the top in terms of muscle hypertrophy?

[selfmade23]

Take a look at Vertical Jump World.com. They explain that arm exercises are still important and give anice breakdown fromstability training upto strength and plyometrics

[iloveus]

I havent ever done hip thrusts, mostly cos they look really homo and heard that they have very little carry over, but it couldnt hurt!

I thought they carried over into the bedroom, nomsayin.

[FailedPotential]

Question -

John maintains his weight by eating 2500 calories per day.

John decides to only eat 1 day per week, but on this day (sunday) he eats 17500 calories.

John does this for 3 months.

Does John gain weight, maintain weight, or lose weight, and why?

[Bonnappe]

Question -

John maintains his weight by eating 2500 calories per day.

John decides to only eat 1 day per week, but on this day (sunday) he eats 17500 calories.

John does this for 3 months.

Does John gain weight, maintain weight, or lose weight, and why?

Not tank2003 but obviously John will gain weight.

His NEAT would drop tremendously and he'd have no energy to do jack**** causing his TDEE to drop drasticly thus his maintanance calories would be much much lower

[FailedPotential]

Not tank2003 but obviously John will gain weight.

His NEAT would drop tremendously and he'd have no energy to do jack**** causing his TDEE to drop drasticly thus his maintanance calories would be much much lower

He does the same activity as before, never did much anyway, office job, watches tv, plays video games. He doesn't do anything physically demanding.

[tank2003]

You had 65 ml/kg/min @ 243 lbs (110 kg)? That equals ~7.2 l/min which is extreme and way more than most endurance athletes. And you can't "push" yourself to a high VO2max; your ability to consume oxygen is what it is, no matter how "hard" you are.

May I ask which equipment you used and how you calculated your output (i.e. if you average x amount of values or just picked a high outlier)?

You don't have to believe me. It was the standard Bruce protocol. I ran until i dropped and got sling shotted into the wall behind. the Combatives pads didnt really help. VO2 was 45 ml/kg/min first time in late 2004 when the last time i did any running was Jan 2003 for soccer.
My highest was the 4th or 5th time i did it. I was the class guinea pig. Its possible i still have the results from the tests around somewhere. You gonna try and call BS on my power output too? Maybe grip strength?

How deep should one go and what should the ankle and the knee angle be on a single leg leg press for maximal quad hypertrophy? And what is in your opinion the best single legged exercises for quad growth?

What are your opinions on piston reps vs. reps with a slight pause at the top in terms of muscle hypertrophy?

I'm not very sure on the degrees that the joints are recommended to be at. On leg press though, i think its subjective. I can lower the weight farther with one leg so i do unilateral. I'm very flexible in my hip, but it hurts when i try to go as low as possible. My suggestion is to do what is comfortable. Leg press machines that let you lay down will give you more ROM where as the ones where you are in the crunch position limits ROM. I imagine that is on purpose though

Hypertrophy can be achieved via various lifting strategies. As long as you are constantly increasing the demand on your muscles, they will respond. And i'm not sure wat piston reps are. Just regular 1 after the other reps? If so, then they are Ok but tend to lose effectiveness. When i feel like i'm just coasting, i will double the reps for a month or so. That is the only way i could get my traps to respond.

Question -

John maintains his weight by eating 2500 calories per day.

John decides to only eat 1 day per week, but on this day (sunday) he eats 17500 calories.

John does this for 3 months.

Does John gain weight, maintain weight, or lose weight, and why?

eating 1 giant meal will force your body into crisis mode and it will do everything it can to hold on to every kcal you take in. Ghrelin production will sky rocket on the day he eats and after he eats, he will most likely be so sleepy that he'd go right to bed. This ensures that metabolism slows down and maximum nutrient uptake occurs int he small intestine. This is all dependent on how many kcals he burns in a week. If he eats more calories, then he will gain weight. An extreme diet like that would let him lose weight at first, but then crisis mode goes into over drive and the weight loss will probably stop.

Not tank2003 but obviously John will gain weight.

His NEAT would drop tremendously and he'd have no energy to do jack**** causing his TDEE to drop drasticly thus his maintanance calories would be much much lower

[SkinnyBeast24]

Detraining

http://sci-fit.net/2017/detraining-retraining/

Summary

Detraining (short-term <4 weeks)

Strength can be maintained without training up to 3-4 weeks, but is gradually lost thereafter (strictly speaking, you can temporarily lose strength before this, but it comes back so quickly during retraining that it doesn’t matter)
Muscles start to atrophy after 2-3 weeks, though gains usually come back quickly, at least in beginners.
Endurance performance decreases by 4 to 25% after 3-4 weeks.
VO2 max declines by 6 to 20% in highly trained athletes at around 4 weeks of detraining.
Beginners can maintain endurance performance for at least 2 weeks without training, though recent VO2max gains can be reversed after 4 weeks.
Muscle, strength, endurance, and fat gains/losses vary from person to person (genetic inter-individual variability)
You look smaller during the first weeks of detraining because muscle glycogen stores shrink, not because you lose mass (though, the muscles literally become smaller because glycogen binds water). Good news: the effect is temporary since glycogen stores quickly expand when you resume training.
Flexibility is reduced after 4 weeks of detraining by ~7-30%
Maintaining gains

To maintain strength during 4+ weeks of detraining, train at least once per week (for beginners). Trained lifters could maintain strength gains with eccentric training.
To maintain hypertrophy during 4+ weeks of detraining, train at least once per week (for beginners). There’s not much long-term data for trained lifters, but eccentric training could help.
To maintain endurance during 4+ weeks of detraining, you can lower training volume by 60 to 90%, training frequency by no more than 20-30% in athletes but beginners can reduce it by 50 to 70%. Training intensity should be the same.
If injured, use alternative training forms such as strength training (which can maintain some endurance performance) or underwater running.
It’s easier to regain strength and muscle mass once it’s lost because of muscle memory (myonuclei and neural adaptations).

[iloveus]

How do I produce as much force/power for as long as possible? What exercises/programming should I do?

[tank2003]

Detraining

http://sci-fit.net/2017/detraining-retraining/

Summary

Detraining (short-term <4 weeks)

Strength can be maintained without training up to 3-4 weeks, but is gradually lost thereafter (strictly speaking, you can temporarily lose strength before this, but it comes back so quickly during retraining that it doesn’t matter)
Muscles start to atrophy after 2-3 weeks, though gains usually come back quickly, at least in beginners.
Endurance performance decreases by 4 to 25% after 3-4 weeks.
VO2 max declines by 6 to 20% in highly trained athletes at around 4 weeks of detraining.
Beginners can maintain endurance performance for at least 2 weeks without training, though recent VO2max gains can be reversed after 4 weeks.
Muscle, strength, endurance, and fat gains/losses vary from person to person (genetic inter-individual variability)
You look smaller during the first weeks of detraining because muscle glycogen stores shrink, not because you lose mass (though, the muscles literally become smaller because glycogen binds water). Good news: the effect is temporary since glycogen stores quickly expand when you resume training.
Flexibility is reduced after 4 weeks of detraining by ~7-30%
Maintaining gains

To maintain strength during 4+ weeks of detraining, train at least once per week (for beginners). Trained lifters could maintain strength gains with eccentric training.
To maintain hypertrophy during 4+ weeks of detraining, train at least once per week (for beginners). There’s not much long-term data for trained lifters, but eccentric training could help.
To maintain endurance during 4+ weeks of detraining, you can lower training volume by 60 to 90%, training frequency by no more than 20-30% in athletes but beginners can reduce it by 50 to 70%. Training intensity should be the same.
If injured, use alternative training forms such as strength training (which can maintain some endurance performance) or underwater running.
It’s easier to regain strength and muscle mass once it’s lost because of muscle memory (myonuclei and neural adaptations).

so what is your question?

How do I produce as much force/power for as long as possible? What exercises/programming should I do?

What exactly do you want to do? what exercises are you looking to perform better on?

I'll use my experience for this one. I've had to REALLY work hard to get some growth out of my traps. I tried a bunch of different things, then i decided to increase the rep ranges to 30 reps. I started 135 for 30 reps and walked my way up from there. I made sure to use just my own strength to get the reps so no bouncing and slowing the reps down. Sometimes i would pause at the top of my last rep and hold it as long as possible. My grip strength skyrocketed and so did my cardio. well, i found it easier and easier to slowly get my reps, even though they might have been heavy as fuuuuuck. I REALLY think that me pushing myself farther and farther helped me out alot. My advice is to slowly push yourself rather than ramping things up at once. Also, you need to be working on explosive contractions, like plyo training. In basketball, if you want to work on your jumping, then box jumps and long jumping is a great way to train. Its just explosion training really. You can do this with weights, but you have to slow the eccentric phase way down, to about 3 seconds, pause, then explode through the concentric phase

[HockeyBacon18]

Im at the point now where i have a noticeable (at least to me, but that may be cause i stare at a bunch of naked avys all day.. no homo) where my right lat is significantly bigger and stronger than my left and im wondering how you recommend correcting it?

If i were to guess, id say that after 3 years of lifting and me being OCD as fuk and literally starting every dumbbell movement with me right side has led to some of my last left reps being half asses and therefore the left not doing as much work as my right, which over enough time compounded to this imbalance. Upon noticing this, ive since made it a point to do start left handed with all dumbbell exercises and only do the max reps my left side does

basically my back day now looks like

deadlift 3x5, 3x3
dumbbell row 3x8-10
chin ups 3x10
seated row or lat pull down 3x12-15

any recommendations you could give me to help straighten this out would be much appreciated.

[TheDukeUSMC]

Is sugar the devil?

[tank2003]

Detraining

http://sci-fit.net/2017/detraining-retraining/

Summary

Detraining (short-term <4 weeks)

Strength can be maintained without training up to 3-4 weeks, but is gradually lost thereafter (strictly speaking, you can temporarily lose strength before this, but it comes back so quickly during retraining that it doesn’t matter)
Muscles start to atrophy after 2-3 weeks, though gains usually come back quickly, at least in beginners.
Endurance performance decreases by 4 to 25% after 3-4 weeks.
VO2 max declines by 6 to 20% in highly trained athletes at around 4 weeks of detraining.
Beginners can maintain endurance performance for at least 2 weeks without training, though recent VO2max gains can be reversed after 4 weeks.
Muscle, strength, endurance, and fat gains/losses vary from person to person (genetic inter-individual variability)
You look smaller during the first weeks of detraining because muscle glycogen stores shrink, not because you lose mass (though, the muscles literally become smaller because glycogen binds water). Good news: the effect is temporary since glycogen stores quickly expand when you resume training.
Flexibility is reduced after 4 weeks of detraining by ~7-30%
Maintaining gains

To maintain strength during 4+ weeks of detraining, train at least once per week (for beginners). Trained lifters could maintain strength gains with eccentric training.
To maintain hypertrophy during 4+ weeks of detraining, train at least once per week (for beginners). There’s not much long-term data for trained lifters, but eccentric training could help.
To maintain endurance during 4+ weeks of detraining, you can lower training volume by 60 to 90%, training frequency by no more than 20-30% in athletes but beginners can reduce it by 50 to 70%. Training intensity should be the same.
If injured, use alternative training forms such as strength training (which can maintain some endurance performance) or underwater running.
It’s easier to regain strength and muscle mass once it’s lost because of muscle memory (myonuclei and neural adaptations).

How do I produce as much force/power for as long as possible? What exercises/programming should I do?

Im at the point now where i have a noticeable (at least to me, but that may be cause i stare at a bunch of naked avys all day.. no homo) where my right lat is significantly bigger and stronger than my left and im wondering how you recommend correcting it?

If i were to guess, id say that after 3 years of lifting and me being OCD as fuk and literally starting every dumbbell movement with me right side has led to some of my last left reps being half asses and therefore the left not doing as much work as my right, which over enough time compounded to this imbalance. Upon noticing this, ive since made it a point to do start left handed with all dumbbell exercises and only do the max reps my left side does

basically my back day now looks like

deadlift 3x5, 3x3
dumbbell row 3x8-10
chin ups 3x10
seated row or lat pull down 3x12-15

any recommendations you could give me to help straighten this out would be much appreciated.

That is an odd situation. its somewhat normal to have one muscle stronger and more defined that its opposite counterpart. i will admit that i dont really have a good answer so i'll just post some reliable youtube vids of guys i really trust for advice:

[tank2003]

Is sugar the devil?

Squatting on the eliptial is the devil

sugar has its place. but we get more than enough sugar in raw foods. Just about any food you have that isnt specifically made without it or targeted toward a diet will probably have more than enough sugar and salt. Seems odd as fuk but even ice cream and cake have salt in them because salt enhances that sweetness.

[goingnorth]

You don't have to believe me. It was the standard Bruce protocol. I ran until i dropped and got sling shotted into the wall behind. the Combatives pads didnt really help. VO2 was 45 ml/kg/min first time in late 2004 when the last time i did any running was Jan 2003 for soccer.
My highest was the 4th or 5th time i did it. I was the class guinea pig. Its possible i still have the results from the tests around somewhere.

You didn't really answer my question. What equipment (for ergospirometry) did you use and how did you (or someone else) calculate your result based on the output?

Surely you understand why someone would question a 7+ l/min VO2max?