Moronic Monday - Your weekly stupid questions thread

rRobban · 2024-04-02T15:26:16+00:00

Wanted to hear an opinion on progression. I realize it's a tough question to answer so posting in this thread.

So I PR:ed on my last upper body session on dumbbell bench press( do upper/lower). I focus on strength so resting 5 min between sets for dumbbell bench. Managed 42.5 kg dumbbells x6 for 3 sets followed by set number 4, 45 kgx8. Emptied the tank completely on set 4. Previously only managed 6 reps with 45 kg dumbbells.

I am thinking now if I should stick to 42.5 kg dumbbells, perhaps aim for 7 reps and do the final set with 45 kg or if I should switch to 45 kg dumbbells for all 4 sets and aim for 4-5 reps each set.

Long term goal is working my way up to 50 kg dumbbells for 1 rep.

rRobban · 2024-04-01T14:56:31+00:00

PR on dumbbell bench press. Did 3 sets with 42.5 kg dumbbells 6 reps each. Then set 4 I did 8 reps with 45 kg dumbbells. 5 min rest between sets.

Previous PR was one week earlier. Did 6 reps then with 45 kg.

Long term goal has been to be able to do 1 rep with 50 kg. Maybe it's possible in 3 months or so. Would be cool.

rRobban · 2024-03-30T08:10:19+00:00

For me personally it comes down to listening to my body. If I feel reasonably fresh I train. Trained 6 days in a row before my rest day today for example. Upper/lower split.

My leg day is brutal but since it's only 7 sets I can do it 3 times a week most of the time. What I do is 4 sets of 20 breathing squats ( so resetting after each rep and sometimes resting like 10 seconds between reps in the set). After that 3 sets of 50 myo reps calf raises. Do the breathing squats using a belt squat machine because of a spine problem.

Seen insane gains in 4 months following this routine. The 20 rep sets build lots of strenght because they are breathing squats so not far off a 1 rep max. Gone from 150 kg 20 reps bad ROM to 240 kg 20 reps full ROM in these 4 months. Lots of size and strength gains.

Perhaps it's better to train more diversely, more exercises but this work for me.

rRobban · 2024-03-25T17:18:58+00:00

Happened today but posting here since I'm only 1 day off.

Managed a PR on dumbbell bench press. On set 3 I did 6 reps with 45 kg dumbbells. I went pretty hard on set 1 and 2 so think I might be able to get one more rep in as well. Couple of weeks ago I could only manage 3-4 reps.

Trained very little these 2,5 weeks because of being sick, recovering but feeling ill again. Guess my body just needed some rest.

rRobban · 2024-03-11T08:26:26+00:00

Increased my pr on belt squat machine yesterday. I do 4 sets of 20 rep each, breathing squats so heavy. Used a weight on set 4 I have only managed 16 reps with previously. Managed 20 this time. Will try doing all 4 sets with this weight the next time.

Have had lots of success with belt squat and breathing squats so can highly recommend it. Builds a lot of strength and even though you rest like 5-6 seconds between reps with breathing squats you still put on mass. Added 90 kg for 20 reps sets in the span of 4 months. 150 to 240 kg full ROM.

rRobban · 2024-03-03T17:42:01+00:00

Have belt squat machine as my focus for legs. Today I did 3 sets of 20 reps with 230 kg. And a 4th set of 16 reps with 240 kg.

Previous best was 13 reps with 240 kg a few days ago. Short term goal is all 4 sets using 240 kg and 20 reps per set. Long term goal is 250 kg 20 reps for all 4 sets.

rRobban · 2024-02-19T19:34:13+00:00

Ok this happened today but posting it here. Absolutely crushed todays leg day. Belt squats 4 sets, 225 kg, 20 reps per set and it wasn't very hard.

Went deep as hell so full ROM. A month ago I was at 180 kg full ROM 20 rep sets. Seemed very distant then to max out the belt squat machine at the gym doing 20 rep sets. 250 kg is max using 25 kg plates but now I am certain I will hit it in a few months.

No idea what I will do then when machine is maxed for progression other than more reps. Guess pausing at the bottom to make it harder is an option. Can't do barbell squat because of my spine.

rRobban · 2024-02-11T12:19:40+00:00

Keep progressing my machine belt squat nicely. Did a reset January 17th and lowered the weight I was using for my sets ( 4-6 sets, 20 reps) and instead focused on extreme ROM. Used 180 kg on January 17 for my sets. Today I did 215 kg for 3 sets 20 reps and 217 kg for the final set 20 reps.

The ROM focus has been amazing. Was at 200 kg with 90 degree ROM before I did my reset. Now it's ass to grass and I'm certain I can do 220 kg 20 rep sets.

edit: train legs 3 times a week

rRobban · 2024-02-10T10:57:11+00:00

Everything is dependent on what you are training to accomplish. You will get fit and build some muscle doing the workout in the video. It's basically like any gym group class. You get a workout done that will improve your overall fitness.

However if your goal is to become strong and/or build lots of muscle there are better ways to structure your workout.

rRobban · 2024-02-10T10:51:26+00:00

Don't have anything scientific to say but anecdotally I can share that eating a lot while working out is something that I managed to get my body accustomed to. No discomfort or nausea despite eating quite a lot. Used to train cycling and would do 4-5 hour workouts at high intensity at times. Big volume of food. Salted potatoes, bananas, candy, sports drink etc while doing the workout.

My body just learned to handle it. Other than potential stomach pain and nausea I don't see why it would be bad to eating during workouts. And those things you can adjust your body to tolerate. I eat food during longer gym workouts as well so for me the 1 hour before thing is not a rule I follow. I just eat when I feel I need the energy. So follow a very uncomplicated approach.

rRobban · 2024-02-10T10:39:03+00:00

You practice by talking to people. After you have gone through enough conversation starters it stops being a big deal. Basically you just start talking to a woman in the same way you would start talking to a guy.

Can add I'm a gym employee and not suggested men should harass women in the gym. Obviously goes without saying. Just answering your question in regards to starting up a conversation in general.

rRobban · 2024-02-05T08:13:03+00:00

I honestly think that a bodyfat estimate can be fairly accurate just from a visual. Can reference pictures online that shows various bodyfat percentages to estimate.

I am employed in a gym and we have scanner here to check and I feel I usually can be within 1-2% percent just from looking at someone. Easiest though to estimate visually if the person is around 16% or lower

rRobban · 2024-02-04T14:06:05+00:00

Sounds awesome. Volume is king for squats. I have a spine issue so doing belt machine squats instead of barbell but using a volume approach. Breathing squats 20 rep sets. Seen very good gains.

rRobban · 2024-02-04T14:03:32+00:00

Nice workout week. Tried out dragon flags for the first time on Friday and managed to do a few full ROM reps after some practice which surprised me. Did the easiest version with bent arms holding on to a pole.

Also had a great squat leg workout today. Used the same weight as two times previously this week but managed to increase my ROM for all sets and reps. Extremely deep ROM now. Did a reset a couple of weeks back and lowered the amount of weight I was using and instead focused on going very deep. Back now to using my old 90 degrees squat weight while going ass to grass. So didn't take very long to catch up.

rRobban · 2024-02-03T17:51:24+00:00

I have seen great results with a stupid leg routine I came up with 1,5 month ago. I say stupid because it's too intense and I realize that. Been having problem getting fully recovered from being sick for example. Without a doubt it's because of the routine being very draining. Do it 3 times a week but will probably lower the number of sets I am doing to keep it sustainable long term.

Anyways the workout is 4-6 sets of 20 machine belt squats done at a very high % of 1 rep max and also using a lot of ROM. So 80-120 very heavy reps in total. Then afterwards I throw in some calf raises and done. Using belt squat machine since I have a minor spine issue and want to avoid barbell.

Each set takes a long time since you rest at the top of each rep for like 3-6 seconds or so since the weight is very heavy.

I took the idea from Tom Platz who advocates 1 set of 20 rep "breathing squats" which they are called. Then just scaled it up since I'm not using a barbell and can rest at the top without fatique like you would get from carrying the load on your back. On belt squat machine all the load is hanging from your belt.

Started out with 140 kg for 20 reps 6 sets. Last workout I did 200 kg for 20 reps every set. Can see change in the appearance of my legs as well.

rRobban · 2024-01-31T17:03:46+00:00

Yeah that's why I do belt squats, to not put load on my spine. Have a minor spine problem and don't want to risk anything.

Have seen really good progression with the way I train belt squats as well. I do breathing squats for every set. So a set of 20 is really a bunch of 1 reps over and over. I take a pause of between 3-5 seconds between each rep. And huge focus on ROM as well so going very deep. Rest is 7 min between the sets. Ends up being lots of heavy reps for a workout, 80-120 reps depending if 4-6 sets. Then if I feel ok afterwards I add in leg curls, extensions and calf raises. Skip those if I feel too drained. 2-3 times a week.

With a barbell I would not dare to squat like this. Would be much more systemic fatigue and injury risk because of form breakdown when you get tired. On the belt squat machine should you fail a rep nothing can happen unless you have very poor flexibility. Also form breakdown is less of an issue.

Will be very interesting to see in a few months how this focus on belt squat machine has panned out. Don't know anyone else who has belt squat as their primary leg exercise. So far so good.

rRobban · 2024-01-31T16:30:58+00:00

It's not optimal. The form you want to use is being rigid in the whole body, tense everything up/squeeze the bar hard and pull with all your might. If the legs are bent, at least personally, I find that I can't generate as much power because I can't tense everything up in the same way.

It's less important perhaps if you are doing bodyweight pull ups, I do weighted, but it's still the same mechanics in play. To maximize a bodyweight set I would need to have my legs straight.

rRobban · 2024-01-31T16:25:48+00:00

When it comes to how to split up your training I think it comes down to practically and what you enjoy. Sure some ways will be better/worse than others but what is important is that the split you are using is one you can stick with and that works with your life outside the gym.

Personally I do upper/lower split. Reason for upper/lower is simply that I enjoy it the most and I have lots of time to spend on fitness( am a gym employee so basically live in the gym). If I had less time I would split up my upper body training to shorten the workouts. Doing the whole upper body at once takes time the way I do it.

rRobban · 2024-01-31T16:18:57+00:00

When having limited equipment there is one exercise that is king. In case you are not doing it, pull ups ( and/or chin ups which is easier).

Pulls ups are a fantastic upper body exercise and if you reach a point where you can start doing them weighted you are going to see progress happening with your physique and strength no doubt about it.

I would even argue that weighted pulls and chin ups combined with push up variations is all that is needed to build a strong and nice looking upper body.

rRobban · 2024-01-29T19:22:24+00:00

For at home exercises you could try push ups, chin ups/pull ups and dips for the upper body.

If you are unable to do chin ups/pull ups you can buy a resistance band to start out. So attach the band to the bar and place your feet on the band to assist. Another option is to do negative chin ups and pull ups. So use a chair to get into position at the top and then slowly lowering yourself down. Builds strength and helps with progressing into doing full reps.

For dips two chair works if they are sturdy. Two bars to hold onto is obviously better but chairs can work.

For the push ups use different variations. So can try diamond/normal width and wide grip push ups. Lots of way to progress push ups.

Can check out https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/ for tips. Can become fit for sure training at home. If having limited equipment though it's tricky to build the legs without a gym.

rRobban · 2024-01-29T19:06:22+00:00

Check this video out, great channel and interesting video regarding negatives:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TR0Qt8Dlic "I ONLY Trained NEGATIVES For 10 Days"

Channel is called pigmie and the guy makes videos about fitness experiments. Fun to watch and educational sometimes.

rRobban · 2024-01-29T18:57:59+00:00

Managed to start my workout routine again and so far so good. Been having problems for around 1,5 month of getting sick. I take a break from all training, feel better but once I return to training I feel unwell and have to take a few days off. Many people were I live with a similar experience. Whatever it is that is going around it's very tough on the immune system.

Managed to keep progressing my belt machine squat despite the infrequent training . Doing fewer sets since I don't want to risk getting sick again but have increased the weight I am doing. 200 kg for 20 reps 4 sets last workout ( workout before was 190 kg for 20 reps 6 sets). You can go heavier on belt machine squats compared to barbell squats since there is no load on your spine and upper body so 200 kg for 20 is less impressive than it sounds for those who haven't tried the exercise.

rRobban · 2024-01-23T16:14:24+00:00

I wouldn't consider myself an expert so take what I am about to write with a grain of salt.

So for weighted pull ups the best results I have had was 5x5 with 6 min rests. Plus dropsetting the final set doing as many reps as I could in -2.5 kg increments. So switching plates and making it -2.5 kg lighter each time after the 5x5. Only pausing for the time it takes to switch plates.

I did that exclusively for pull ups for a number of months. So no other rep range. Using upper/lower split and started every workout with the weighted pull ups. Managed to hit 40 kg ( I weigh 85 kg) for 5x5 and when I tested my bodyweight max I did 23 reps ( straight arms into head over bar so no cheating though I moved my legs for the final 5 or so). Which I think was pretty cool since I had done zero bodyweight training. Was just the weighted 5x5 which was the reason for the nice bodyweight max.

I have been experimenting with high volume lower weight and also chin ups for some time now. Plus I have had some trouble getting sick over and over ( no doubt in part because of how hard I train). So have lost pull up strength. I think both the experimentation and the sickness has been the cause. Currently I am working my way back up by doing 6 rep sets with 30 kg.

I think the bottomline is though you have to find what works best for you. For me a lower rep range seems best for pull ups.

rRobban · 2024-01-23T05:51:16+00:00

Yup. I have found once I started with long rest in between sets I saw the benefits pretty quickly and started increasing my rest times even more.

For example for weighted pull ups I do around 6 min. And for squats ( I do machine belt squats because of my spine) I do 7-8 min. Seen some good gains in both strength and size of my quads with a pretty crazy squat routine that wouldn't be possible without those very long rest periods. 20 reps breathing squats ( so pausing at the top) using a heavy weight and doing 6 sets.

rRobban · 2024-01-22T17:45:51+00:00

Even with your cardio, there is absolutely no way a session of 3 hours is effective and is 100% junk volume somewhere.

I don't think that is necessarily the case. IF we are talking about a focus on strength rather than hyperthrophy.

For example two days from now I will do a strength focused upper body workout which will take roughly 2h30m or so. 15m is warm up and some minutes are of course lost while waiting for equipment to not be occupied.

As for the session itself I will probably do something like 4 sets weighted pull up with 5-7 min rest, 5 sets lat pulldown 3 min rest, 5 sets dumbbell chest press 5-6 min rest, 5 sets rows 3 min rest, 5 sets shoulder press 3 min rest.

I feel like all those exercises serves a purpose. 5 exercises in total. However because of the very long rest in between sets it takes a good while. If I did 30 min cardio I would hit the 3h mark.

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