Beginner's (noob) questions thread 2

[Fighting Sprite]

hey guys. I'm going on vacation in two weeks and have a couple of questions.

As a complete noob, what books did you learn the most from? (I've read ss) Would like something to read, and wouldn't mind expanding my knowledge on how the body works, and strength training in general.

What exercises would be best for me to do, in the two weeks i can't get to the gym?

thanks

http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f13/good-strength-training-books-2125139/

This thread gave me some very good options.

 

[NurseKnuckles]

If time is a factor, I don't see that being a good plan. I don't see someone being able to do all those exercises, in that amount of time, while putting sufficient effort into each lift.

Maybe:

Day 1:
Squat (volume)
Bench (Heavy)
BORs
Kroc rows

Day 2:
Deadlift
Press
Front squat
Pull-ups, face-pulls

Day 3
Squat (Heavy, with some back off sets)
Narrow grip bench (volume)
Sumo Deads (Just focus on learning these, and getting used to sumo deads for now)
Chins, curls (or whatever)


It's still going to be tight for time. But if you keep up a good pace, especially for the last two exercises, it's doable. And there's some assistance, but also a little bit more variation, which should allow for some more progress.

Interesting Tosa! I will consider this for when I reset my maxes. I was also told to just enjoy the gains and not worry too much about assistance at the moment.

 

[JauntyAngle]

Hey guys,

I

 

[Maddog1]

I have a slight pain in the left side of my hip when squatting. I get it when warming up, feel nothing doing my work sets, and the it hurts again after. Also it only hurts when going parallel or deeper.

Anyone have experience with this. Will try doing agile 8 and see if it helps.

Cheers

 

[weaselGRM]

So I did my first set of real squats. I mean shitting in a public Korean bathroom squats. And I felt like a woman. That shit as opposed to slightly under the knee squats is way fucking harder.
No question, just something that needs to be pointed out.

 

[Stargazer Rex]

Reverse grip Bench press, any benefit to this grip at all? Seems a little weird to me, just wondering what some of the more experienced lifters think of this.

 

[CoreCanyon]

Reverse grip Bench press, any benefit to this grip at all? Seems a little weird to me, just wondering what some of the more experienced lifters think of this.

We like it at our gym as an assistance type lift maybe once every 2 weeks/1.5 weeks. If your shoulders are set on the bench properly, and you have everything lined up the right way, the reverse grip bench press does a wonderful job of making you put your elbows in. It's just hard to have your elbows out of position w/your grip turned around.

We've had a ton of success in bench press this past year w/my HS powerlifting team, reverse grip bench press is one of the reasons why.

 

[Tosa]

The benefit of reverse grip bench is that it teaches you to tuck your elbows instead of flare them. So you could say it's an exercise for teaching form, or drilling a particular technical aspect of an exercise, rather than a "lift" or an exercise for strength or size.

Personally, I wouldn't use it, because that's not an element of bench technique that I ever have trouble with. For someone who's just learning to bench, and is having trouble grasping the concept of tucking the elbows, it's useful - they don't even have to do it heavy. Or perhaps if you have issues tucking your elbows, you could throw in some light reverse grip bench, but it's not something you're going to want to train really hard.

 

[Stargazer Rex]

Interesting, thanks guys.

 

[Loc13]

I'm losing my squats forward a lot. What are some assistance exercises and form adjustments that will help with this?

 

[matt0331]

How can I combat the muscle soreness that happens after every single workout when I box?

I use advil sometimes so that I can workout the next time in extreme cases because stretching and protein shakes after a workout don't seem to be enough to stop my body from throbbing and aching...and therefore ruin my performance in the following sessions of the week....and I'm only going every other day...

Clearly I'm doing something wrong because professional boxers train every day multiple times...not once every other day for an hour (our gym cut down from 2 hours for some reason...small town...only gym around) and pros never get tired or sore it seems...I need to fix this. Thanks

Edit* I'm trying Ice packs on sore areas as we speak..I want to be 100% each time I begin a workout especially since its only every other day...i shouldn't be degrading this much between sessions

Pros get tired as well. Try not to compare yourself to a pro. They have conditioned themselves to that level of work for years. I like contrast showers to ease soreness. It seems as though the quicker I can get into the shower after a hard workout the better. It also seems that the more tense I am the quicker I get tired. Maybe this is what is happening with you. You said you feel good 7-8for minutes after the session maybe that is you relaxing finally.

 

[Gingervitis]

I'm losing my squats forward a lot. What are some assistance exercises and form adjustments that will help with this?

Might be a technique issue rather than a muscular weakness. That being said this seems like it might be helpful (from Dave Tate)

Squat Weak Points

Weak at the top:
In this situation, you stall out near the top of the lift, but don't fall forward or backward. This is one of the best problems to have as you've kept the proper squat form but just stalled out. There are no technical problems for this except not driving your hips forward. Usually this isn't the problem.

The first thing to do to fix this problem is to get stronger! This sounds simple and it is. Sometimes you don't have to look so hard for what your weaknesses are. I think too many people feel they're being held back by some secret weakness when in fact they just need to get the entire body stronger.

The second thing you can do is get faster. If you get fast enough, the momentum will bust you through the sticking point. The third thing you can do is to take a reality check. Is this your sticking point because you now own it? What I mean here is, do you always fail at this same spot? Have you always failed there? Have you engrained it in your mind that this is where you fail? If so, fix it!

Getting smashed at the bottom:
There are many things that can cause this to happen. The first and most apparent problem is it was just too much weight. I know many of you are thinking, "Well, no crap!" but you'd be shocked at some of the e-mails and calls I get.

For example, I had one guy call because he got crushed with a 315 bench and couldn't figure out why. I later find out he barely made 275! It was simply too heavy for him!

This could also be improper set up from the start. If you don't start with a good arch and tight abs and then don't sit back, you'll sit straight down. You have to sit back into the squat to get the most out of your hamstrings, lower back, and hips. If you sit straight down you're forcing most of the weight onto the quads and allowing the bar to actually travel forward.

The third reason could be you're not forcing your knees out on the way down and keeping them forced out of the hole. This could be fixed with a simple verbal queue like "Knees out!" You may also need to do more hip work. Some great things for this are seated abductions with bands around the knees. We call them "knee-outs with the band." A second thing that'll help with this is wide stance low box squats with light weight and higher reps (around ten). Squat to the bottom position and then only raise half to one-forth of the way up, then go back down. This will keep the tension in the range of motion you're having your problem with.

A fourth reason you may miss in the hole is you're letting your chest drop on the way down. A fifth reason is that your hamstrings aren't strong enough to sit back on. I see this one all the time in the seminars we conduct. What happens is the lifter will sit back so far and then just drop. The strength is just not there to keep sitting back. To fix this, use a box height on speed day that you can sit back on and keep good form. Who cares if it's four inches high? Just do it! Then, over the next few weeks, lower the box half to one inch each week, but keep the form 100% correct.

You can also strengthen the hamstrings with glute ham raises, reverse hypers, good mornings, pull-throughs, and many other movements. This could be due to weak abs and lower back muscles. This is another reason why we all need more ab and back work.

Falling forward coming out of the hole:
This is the king of missed squats. I see this one more than any other sticking point. This can happen for several reasons, many physical and many technical.

One technical reason is not rising with your chest first out of the bottom. You're rising with your hips first. When your hips flex first your chest will always go forward. You have to think of rising with your chest first and squatting the bar back, not up. If you have the bar driving back it'll travel in a straight line instead of going forward. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line and this is how the bar must travel.

You may also have allowed your head to drop down. Your body will always follow your head so you must keep your head back. Notice I didn't say up, but back. Watch the eyes of any great squatter as he rises out of the bottom. Through the blood clots you'll see his eyes are focused up and he's driving his neck back into the bar. Even the guys you think are looking down are still driving their head into their traps.

Now, why are these technical problems happening in the first place and how do you fix them? All technical problems should be corrected by learning what you're supposed to do and then perfecting it with the lighter weights. You should also use verbal queues. The best queues I've used for this one are "Head up!" or "Chest up!"

Falling forward may also be caused by weak abs and lower back. If your core isn't strong enough to transfer the flex from the lower body to the bar, then the body will have no choice but to collapse. The best movements for this are exercises that work both the abs and hip flexors (pulldown abs, leg raises, spread eagle sit-ups etc.) For the lower back, reverse hypers, back raises, and good mornings are ideal.

One last thing that can really help with this is to use a cambered squat bar for low box squats. The reason? If you don't rise with your chest first you'll have some very serious instability issues. This will only happen once and then you'll automatically figure out what to do.

The bottom line here is, no matter what weakness you have, act on them and fix them! This will take commitment and discipline. Basically, do what you gotta do because no one will do it for you!

Falling forward halfway up:
This is probably the second most common problem or sticking point I see with the squat. What happens here is the lifter comes out of the hole strong and then about halfway up he begins to fall forward. This happens because he has great reversal strength out of the bottom but then, as he begins to hit the mid-point, he stalls. He can’t continue to strain because the torso is beginning to die out and the force of the movement keeps the hips coming up, yet the upper body can’t stay upright.

To fix this he needs to make sure the time-under-tension on the max effort movement is specific to the time of the strain needed in competition. This will be around 3.0 to 4.0 seconds. Second, the ab work has to come up and be heavy. A third remedy for this problem is to do static work in the position at which you lose the lift. To do this, use a bar with a light weight (around 20%) and a band. Squat down to the spot you lose it at and hold for five seconds, then squat back up and hold at the top for five seconds. This would best be done with 3 to 5 sets of 5 reps. The good morning can also be used for this and may even be a better choice as there'll be more work on the torso when compared to the barbell squat.

One last solution for this problem is to use the safety squat bar for max effort work. The safety squat bar tries to toss you forward as you squat up because of the design of the bar. If the bar is trying to toss you forward, there's only one way to keep this from happening: you have to fight to keep the bar in position, thus developing those muscles.

Falling backwards:
This is actually the best thing that could happen because you're squatting the bar back and all the strength is there. The only thing that really needs to be done here is technical. Just sit back more to allow the torso to lean in some. The lifter may also not be sitting back because of weakness in the hamstrings.

Knees coming in while squatting down: This is also a very common problem with beginners and intermediate lifters. This can happen for many reasons: weak hips, poor flexibility, or bad form. If the lifter has bad form all he needs is verbal queues of "Knees out!"

If this is a flexibility problem then the lifter should squat on a higher box at the point where he can keep the knees out. Over time the box height will come down as he gets more flexible. If this is a strength problem with the hips, then the same solutions as "getting smashed at the bottom" should be followed.

 

[Loc13]

Thanks! Gonna try those tips.

 

[moyy]

I have crappy ass ankle flexibility, have a hard time kneeling and sitting on my ass as I feel a strain in my shin/ankle area due to poor flexibility. Besides kneeling in that position any other stretches to improve ankle flexibility?

 

[Fighting Sprite]

Is it too early for me to try to increase my work capacity with an extra GPP or assistance workout? I'm four months in, about to switch to madcow from BS 5x5. I was thinking one extra workout, consisting of sled dragging or GHRs etc, then add a second workout after a month or two.

 

[Ederbjj]

I have crappy ass ankle flexibility, have a hard time kneeling and sitting on my ass as I feel a strain in my shin/ankle area due to poor flexibility. Besides kneeling in that position any other stretches to improve ankle flexibility?

 

[Jester]

Is it too early for me to try to increase my work capacity with an extra GPP or assistance workout? I'm four months in, about to switch to madcow from BS 5x5. I was thinking one extra workout, consisting of sled dragging or GHRs etc, then add a second workout after a month or two.

like everything it depends, if you dont do much in your extra workout i doubt it would effect you in the beginning, once you get into PR territory with Madcow it might start hurting you but like i said it depends what you are doing that 4th day. Just start really slow and build it up slowly, and just pay attention to what your body is telling you, and if it gets to the point where you dont feel ready for your workouts or you start failing reps you shouldnt, then i would think about dropping it or scaling down.

Madcow progression isnt as aggressive as something like SS but its still pretty fast. Its meant more to milk the last of your noob gains out before you start a long term program like 5/3/1, TJM, TM, or T3. So as i would say dont do anything extra during SS, i would halfway say dont do anything during Madcow. Just keep it light and easy if you do though

 

[BigSiv]

Does the bar count as part of the amout of weight lifted? Does that mean I should add 20kg to all my numbers?

 

[jhthm]

second post ever wooo

Brief background:

27 year old male and semi new to weights/conditioning.
I trained in kickboxing in highschool for about 2 years. Moved away from my hometown and gym for university/work and didn't make time for any training and the only exercise I got was from labour work for the next 3-4 years or so. Since then I started training with two clubs in seperate cities as I'm a professional gypsy. Primarily both clubs are Filipino Martial arts(Arnis) groups that also draw from western boxing, JKD and small circle jui jitsu. Both great groups with a lot of knowledge BUT I find that they are lacking in the conditioning department.

I'm going to start Carnalsalvation's two day split routine for novice lifters once I get back to civilization from a camping/hiking trip in a couple weeks.

Day one:
Deadlift
Overhead press
Weighted pullup/chinup

Day two:
Squat
Benchpress
Bent over row

In the meantime I will be doing daily jogging alternating with sprints every second or third day along with some bodyweight training via TRX. Back to the gym on August 21st.

So the question in regards to my non vacation lifestyle:

I work 13 hour shifts in an office now. 5 dayshifts 6:30am-7:30pm immediatley followed by 5 night shifts 6:30pm-7:30am followed by 5 days off. There is about a 45minute commute one way to work each day. Repeat FOREVER.

I am wondering if anyone can provide feedback on ideal times to be doing my lifts... as in when I wake up vs before going to bed, if I should alternate based on whether I'm on nights or days etc... I don't know if I missed it in the FAQs or what but I swear I read them :redface:

Also once I start the two day split I will continue with running daily preferably alternating intensity with off days. Thoughts?

Thank you!

 

[Kinglee]

Does the bar count as part of the amout of weight lifted? Does that mean I should add 20kg to all my numbers?

Yeah it does, because you are lifting it as well as the weights. I think this is something every n00b thinks, I thought the same. Good news is all your lifts go up but 20 Kilos now :icon_chee