Weightlifting for Kiwis - Discussion and support regarding the art of swole

[ducktales4gameboy]

I was looking at dumbbells online to order and I cannot believe how expensive these can get. I'd really rather not spend money on an expensive one and then it turns out to be over-priced trash. How should I start out?

EDIT: actually, maybe pushups are a better first step anyway...?

Basic bodyweight stuff like pushups/pullups/dips will get you started with near zero investment and are worth doing regardless what else you've got access to.

For equipment on the cheap, hit up thrift stores and check facebook marketplace/craigslist/etc. 'Check thrift stores' is kind of a cliche recommendation but seriously tons of it shows up there (especially door-mounted pullup bars, which are amazing) with a predictable large influx the first quarter of the year when people are falling off new years' resolutions.

 

[thejackal2]

I'm currently following a program to increase my squat (since it's my worst lift) and I've seen some nice progress but GODDAMN, I hate it so much some days.. There's quite a lot of sessions with a lot of high reps and it makes me want to kill myself at times. So please give me your funnest exercises and/or routines that I can sprinkle in every now and then to regain some life force. Preferably upper body (I love bench press but would be nice to mix it up a bit).

Split squad, takes a lot of pressure off your lower back especially. Trap bar deadlifts for explosion practice. Good old fashioned lunges. Many more.

I've backed off lifting and I'm doing a cut, down 8 lbs and just maintaining my lifts as best I can. Doing more cardio and two heavy sessions a week on weights. Upper and lower body split. Miss a few body parts but work them in the next week. Feeling great. All my clothes fitting better and I'm not constantly sore in my joints. Middle age natural really isn't about the same stuff as when you're in your 20s.

 

[MS Paint Gigachad]

Basic bodyweight stuff like pushups/pullups/dips will get you started with near zero investment and are worth doing regardless what else you've got access to.

For equipment on the cheap, hit up thrift stores and check facebook marketplace/craigslist/etc. 'Check thrift stores' is kind of a cliche recommendation but seriously tons of it shows up there (especially door-mounted pullup bars, which are amazing)

I will never stop shilling for Pullups and Dips
Nor will I stop shilling for door-mounted pullup bars - yes, on paper theyre only good for pullups, but hear me out, theyre a great place to hang gymnastics rings (which I will also never stop shilling for) which are, 1. relatively cheap, and 2. extremely versatile. I've used them for different grips for pullups (just try and do pullups with a hammer-style grip on a straight bar), dips, inverted rows (theyre also easier to adjust height), a JM-press and Skullcrushers style triceps extensions, pelican curls, as ersatz pushup handles which allow you to get more range of motion (theyre relatively unstable, but theyre about as stable as a dumbbell bench press and you can get used to that), for pike pushups, and even as an ersatz abs wheel.

[THIS MESSAGE WAS SPONSORED BY BIG CALISTHENICS]

with a predictable large influx the first quarter of the year when people are falling off new years' resolutions.

It's mid-october, which means we have just about 3 or 4 months to go. Soon, brothers (and sisters)...

 

[Core Theorist]

Thank you all for the additional information.

I ultimately decided against ordering anything and I'll just start out with bodyweight exercises. I did a few pushups to get me started yesterday but I must've done them wrong since I'm still a little sore in my shoulders today. I don't think I'm sore enough to be seriously worried though. How do I know if I actually pull something? Will it just be outright painful instead of awkward?

I downloaded a fitness app to provide some guidelines and I'm going to start out at the lowest default settings they gave me. I'll be starting at three 15 minute sessions every week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but starting this evening today, and then letting my body rest this weekend, because it's my first 'real' workout session.

I will return after my first week with an additional status update. If I don't, please @ me and call me a niggerfaggot.

 

[John.Doe]

I ultimately decided against ordering anything and I'll just start out with bodyweight exercises. I did a few pushups to get me started yesterday but I must've done them wrong since I'm still a little sore in my shoulders today.

There's nothing wrong with starting with body weight exercises. You might not get hekkin' swole, but you will tone, condition, and train yourself to better exercise. Always valuable. If you want to enhance your home workouts, a pullup bar that fits over a doorway is cheap and useful, I've also found push up handles great too, they can help a lot with wrist strain.

 

[ducktales4gameboy]

I ultimately decided against ordering anything and I'll just start out with bodyweight exercises. I did a few pushups to get me started yesterday but I must've done them wrong since I'm still a little sore in my shoulders today. I don't think I'm sore enough to be seriously worried though. How do I know if I actually pull something? Will it just be outright painful instead of awkward?

Soreness the day after is totally normal if it's an exercise you don't do normally. If you do the same again it'll probably hurt way less or not at all, it goes away pretty fast. When it does hurt though it's fine to rest, don't feel like you need to do everything every single day.

Regarding pulled muscles, if you've ever sprained your ankle it's very similar. Mild ache that turns into actual sharp stabbing pain in a very specific small area when flexed but doesn't bother you much when not.

 

[Hyper Vigilant Dumbass]

Happy Friday guys and gals have a good weekend.

 

[DeutscheKatze]

i wonder how many german gigaballers we have here

my lil home gym is ready so far, kind of
still need to figure out a routine

but first gotta handle some job change stuff

gotta really get back on the way of panzerkatze

the weight i lost is still off n stays off
wish i could train with love, but yeah not here

 

[Dean Pentel]

It's come up before but I feel it worth mentioning repeatedly:

Don't skip mobility work. I promise you it's so worth your time. If you get consistent about it it doesn't take a long time. Especially if you really start pushing yourselves hard, it's a priority to address.

 

[Lord of the Large Pants]

I just exercised for the first time in almost 3 months. I've had some serious shit going on in my personal life that completely destroyed my motivation to do anything, but it's finally getting a little bit better.

It was both way harder and way easier than I expected. I feel a lot more sore than normal. I had to go down a kettlebell size for a couple things, which feels bad man. Oh God I have to do this again tomorrow.

 

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

It's come up before but I feel it worth mentioning repeatedly:

Don't skip mobility work. I promise you it's so worth your time. If you get consistent about it doesn't take a long time. Especially if you really start pushing yourselves hard, it's a priority to address.

I do an extremely basic stretching routine after every workout and it has been an unfathomable improvement to not just my training, but just how I feel.
It takes barely any time, and it’s certainly helped my flexibility.

2 circuits, hold each stretch 30 seconds each, no rest between poses;
Seated Hamstring Stretch
Laying Quad Stretch
Butterfly Stretch
Reverse Prayer while in Lotus
Hold your hands behind your back like this while in Lotus:

Lord Of Fishes Pose, both sides

The secret is progressions. You’re not going be Gumby when you start, so just look up insert-exercise/pose progressions and you’ll easily find something that fits your current ability.

 

[ForTheHoard]

I just exercised for the first time in almost 3 months. I've had some serious shit going on in my personal life that completely destroyed my motivation to do anything, but it's finally getting a little bit better.

It was both way harder and way easier than I expected. I feel a lot more sore than normal. I had to go down a kettlebell size for a couple things, which feels bad man. Oh God I have to do this again tomorrow.

In my teens and 20's, I'd get sore the next day on whatever muscle group I worked. Now, in a decade other than my 20s, my soreness is getting delayed for 2 days. It's the weirdest shit ever as I was expecting for soreness to hit quicker due to being older.

I finally got around to doing my InBody analysis and I was very pleasantly surprised. My PBF was about 4 points less than I predicted, and my lean body mass was 17lbs greater than I expected. My muscle/fat analysis is D shaped which means I mostly need to fuck with my diet as opposed to bulking. I was a little worried I was going to hit a midlife crisis but the numbers indicate I'm still within reach of super shredder status.

 

[BigGulpin]

Very late to these replies, so, I accept the ""s with hat in hand.

I will be in my forties soon, feeling tired and sleepy these recent months. Just a normal lazy office lady living in the city.
My husband bought 5kg dumb bells so I have been stealing borrowing to do some dumb bell exercises like hammers and bicep curls every alternate day.
Managed to do 3sets of 12 reps recently.
any advice for weight-lifting to maintain/retain muscle mass for those past their thirties?

Aging women need resistance training more than most people, the degradation in bone density that comes from 1.) being Woman and 2.) becoming old is slowed down from the resistance on them. (Osteogenesis)

The best routine you can pick is one that you can stick to. I tell this to everyone, (and I have to remind myself of it constantly.) Even if you find an "optimal routine", if you can't adhere to it, it won't benefit you. There is a downstream skill of differentiating when you are backing off because you are being lazy, or backing off because you actually need rest, and a good rule of thumb is to "never miss two". Another think to keep an eye on is protein intake. The quick and dirty guideline is 0.7-1g of protein per pound of body weight. There are more effective ways of calculating this, I personally do 0.8g/lb of lean body mass, but I also measure my %bodyfat over time, so I have that data point.

I know /fit/ has been seething about Dr. Mike Isratel and his service shilling and YouTube slop videos, but there are good bits of info in them, most notably:

1. Get good sleep
2. Eat mostly whole foods
3. exercise in a way you enjoy that accomplishes what you want

Any sort of optimizations you make to a routine are best applied on top of that bedrock foundation, and doing those things would benefit just about every person on the earth that wants to just "be healthier."

tell us what is your routine for?
is it to look as pumped as possible?
is it to gain as much power?
or is it for cosmetic gay poses?
idk how to start a forum vote so
reply with "pumped", "power" or "gay" before the mods tell me how to do polls

Lifting heavy is fun (I miss the strength I had when I was more serious about lifting), I'm trying to balance losing fat with keeping strength, but the priority is on not being a fat fuck. I am never described as a fat fuck (at least not to my face), but the collective fattening of the world population has lowered that bar significantly. Wouldn't mind being in the 18% body fat range and strong.


Also, missed quoting it, but RIP Big Lenny. Never be a cookie cutter.

 

[Grapefruit Soda]

In my teens and 20's, I'd get sore the next day on whatever muscle group I worked. Now, in a decade other than my 20s, my soreness is getting delayed for 2 days. It's the weirdest shit ever as I was expecting for soreness to hit quicker due to being older.

Doms usually hit 24 hours and peak at 48, if you felt it earlier when you were young, it was probably just muscle soreness and lack of mind muscle connection. You also probably weren't lifting as heavy, so you're overall fatigue never reached what it is now.

I get doms usually 20 hours after my lifts, and depending on how much I lifted (fuck legs) I get ~40% of my usual strength from em.

 

[thejackal2]

In my teens and 20's, I'd get sore the next day on whatever muscle group I worked. Now, in a decade other than my 20s, my soreness is getting delayed for 2 days. It's the weirdest shit ever as I was expecting for soreness to hit quicker due to being older.

I finally got around to doing my InBody analysis and I was very pleasantly surprised. My PBF was about 4 points less than I predicted, and my lean body mass was 17lbs greater than I expected. My muscle/fat analysis is D shaped which means I mostly need to fuck with my diet as opposed to bulking. I was a little worried I was going to hit a midlife crisis but the numbers indicate I'm still within reach of super shredder status.

It's very strange. It's much worse for me now then it was 10 years ago. I often get the worst DOMS midway through 2nd day and it can last even 72 hours. Prehab and active recovery only does so much against father time. Good news is you can still build muscle, just have to be smarter about it than at 25. Diet matters a lot more now and you get deyhrated easier in general, which isn't great for muscles.

My back squat is so weak right now. I have knees I have to be careful with and I could only muster 25x reps at 225 this weekend. I miss being 25 and just loading up three plates a side with no warmup and going to down. Those days are long over.

edit: woah, some new stretch marks! That's cool as I've been losing fat so this is from my lifting yesterday. Those raised plate lifts really hit the front of your shoulders hard. Got a couple new marks right on top. Always good to see some new growth at this age.

 

[Dean Pentel]

Prehab and active recovery only does so much against father time.

I started doing active recovery this spring and I'm mildly annoyed with myself that I ignored suggestions from friends to implement it years ago. I highly recommend it to any active lifters.

I used to simply take 2 days off a week as I saw fit. Now I only need to take Sundays off from lifting (still ruck heavy) but ever since I began incorporating active recovery into my program I don't feel so beat to shit at the end of the week.

I'm a lifter in my early 40's so I can attest to you being very correct about how getting older is no joke.

 

[thejackal2]

I started doing active recovery this spring and I'm mildly annoyed with myself that I ignored suggestions from friends to implement it years ago. I highly recommend it to any active lifters.

I used to simply take 2 days off a week as I saw fit. Now I only need to take Sundays off from lifting (still ruck heavy) but ever since I began incorporating active recovery into my program I don't feel so beat to shit at the end of the week.

I'm a lifter in my early 40's so I can attest to you being very correct about how getting older is no joke.

I switched gyms to one a little closer and sadly they don't have a sauna so I had to get a bag. The bag does a pretty good job approximating the sauna and it's the only way I'm going to get a cold plunge in after so I do 30 minutes in the bag then jump into a cold bathtub for 5-10 minutes. Noticeably less DOMS when I do this.

Bag was a good buy only cost like 80 bucks and I've used it about 20 times now. Pain in the ass to clean but it's a good rehab and wellness device. I've gotten much more out of it than my theragun personally. Theragun doesn't do much for me.

 

[Devout Muslim]

Some Indian guy asked me how many sets I had left with a dumbbell. Am I a spazz for being annoyed? It’s a dumbbell man, fuck off.

 

[John.Doe]

Some Indian guy asked me how many sets I had left with a dumbbell. Am I a spazz for being annoyed? It’s a dumbbell man, fuck off.

If you're gym has only one set of a given weight, I feel bad for both of you. Secondly, tell the jeet to go back to India and curl curry trays.

 

[Beep from Kenshi]

Some Indian guy asked me how many sets I had left with a dumbbell. Am I a spazz for being annoyed? It’s a dumbbell man, fuck off.

Yeah, that's slightly irritating. All he had to do was go up or down one increment on the dumbbell rack and the number of reps per set would have been basically the same. Not being able to adjust like that is kind of OCD.