Believe it or not, when I first started working out one of the biggest problems I had was literally not knowing *how* to have a good workout. Hearing that statement on it's base level probably sounds a bit silly, but in the broader sense it gets immensely complicated quite quickly when you are starting out.
How often should I workout?
How long should I rest after a workout?
How many different exercises should I perform when I workout?
How many reps?
How much weight?
Should I be a toolbag and *only* workout my Biceps and Abs?
Will working out make my neck disappear?
If I go to a gym and I can barely lift any weight will people laugh at me?
Be creative and add some of your own. That list took me about a minute to think of, give or take ten seconds.
The bottom line is a lot of beginners have a lot of valuable questions-along with some of less importance-and because of this a lot of people get the wrong information from what would seem to be the right places. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise as people need to make money, and inevitably someone is going to start preaching exactly what beginners want to hear, with more regard for their wallets than their waist-lines.
Despite an overwhelming majority of promising ads with expensive quick fixes and smooth talking fitness gurus, there is also a large amount of correct, free, and reliable information out there. I have spent a long time scouring the intarwebz, looking for decent sources of information, and to end this blog I'll list a few. I am not currently affiliated with any of the following people, websites, companies, or fitness systems.
exrx.net
Despite sounding suspiciously like the type of website you'd visit on a lonely Saturday night, this website catalogues just about every conventional exercise there is, explains how to do them, what muscles they work, and a few other important tidbits. I recommend the exercise menu section to get started.
scooby1961 - youtube.com
If you've ever looked up just about anything to do with bodybuilding on youtube, then chances are you've watched one of his videos. Although by no means has he been one of my greatest influences on fitness, he has never failed to deliver a steady stream of easy to follow, thoroughly explained, none infomercial-style videos. There are a few differences in our opinions on a few key areas, but Scooby has been around fitness about twice as long as I've been around at all, and I don't believe he'll steer you wrong.
beastskills.com
My thanks to Mr. Jim Bathurst for creating this great website. Devoid of annoying advertisements (although that may possibly be due to my ad-block), this website provides you with tutorials on how to train for many advanced movements, especially gymnastics. My only issue with the website is that a majority of the first progressions for the tutorials require the learner to be quite strong already, but then again you shouldn't be trying those moves without the basics down first anyway.
Here!
Yes, I know you probably hate me for saying that but please check back with my blog every once in a while to see what's new. As the more general subjects I have to talk about begin to thin out a bit, I'll be writing about more specific things, such as exercise tutorials, and others soon.
Thanks for reading, and hopefully that gives you beginners a helping hand.
Ryan
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Light Weights High Rep or Heavy Weights Low Rep?
Despite a lot of hype from all corners of the Earth, and a lot of very misleading information, the amount of weight you lift in whatever fashion you choose, as well as the number of reps, both directly effect the physiology of the muscle you will develop. Why can I say this with such certainty? Is it because somehow this particular High School student has managed to acquire a degree in muscular physiology? Although I'd like to say yes, that'd be a load of crap. The reason for my definite attitude towards this subject is borne purely from experience.
Without a doubt, people who work out regularly with heavy weights and low reps will develop a slimmer, yet well toned physique, with less "excess bulk". If you've ever seen one of those wiry guys (or girls I suppose) in the gym lifting several times their body weight then you'll know what I'm talking about. Several of the people I work out with have exactly this kind of physiology. A friend of mine who has been working out for roughly five or so years (possibly more), is able to perform amazing feats of strength such as one arm chin-ups, making muscle ups look like child's play, and performing pull ups until you get bored of watching. Despite this and other feats, while retaining amazing definition, he weighs about as much as a regular person his height, and unless a person actually saw him with his shirt of, you would be hard pressed to imagine him doing any of these sorts of things.
Before I continue, I need to clarify a few things. The way you look is also largely defined by genetics, and the food you eat. While working out with heavy weights for low reps is likely the most efficient way to gain strength without extra bulk, not everyone reacts the same way. It's also important to mix your routines up, as getting stronger is your body adapting to stimulus, so if you want your body to keep adapting, you need to change the stimulus quite often. I'll speak more of this another time.
There is of course the method of workout out with moderate weights for a moderate number of reps. It is generally agreed upon that this area sits around 8-15 reps, which is more ideal for bodybuilders rather than strength trainers. If you are looking to "bulk up" and have less concern about functional strength, then you'll want to focus on that system rather than the former. My apologies to you, but I focus primarily on strength, so while I have and always will take care to verify my information, it might not always be applicable to this style of exercising.
Once again, before I continue I'd like to clear something up. While a majority of the people I have personally met who lift ridiculously large amounts of weight tend to have very little "excess bulk", I've also met a few very large people who are even stronger than them. Size is not often a good measure of an individual's actual strength, but that goes for people with the bulk as well. In other words don't make assumptions either way.
Unfortunately I won't be discussing the idea of using low weight with high reps in detail, but I will give a bit of insight into what I've seen at the gym in my school. I don't recommend it at all. The bottom line is people almost always work out either for strength or size, and judging by the people I've seen constantly flowing up to the gym only to grab a 10 pound weight for a good bicep pumping session, you'll have more progress lifting at least a moderate amount of weight. Alas I am not an expert and I can only base my opinions on what *I* have seen, so rather than taking my word on this for fact I suggest you research it yourself.
To summarize this article quickly, consider these options:
-If you are looking to become very strong but you don't want to look all bulked up, then I recommend you workout most often with heavy weights, and your reps don't exceed 8. Five reps works best for me.
-If you are looking for a more bulked up look, and don't get me wrong, there isn't anything bad about that, then you'll want to workout with moderate weights with anywhere from 8-15 reps.
-Either way you look at it, both will give you strength, and both will give you muscle tone. I also can't tell you that working out with heavy weights will make you considerably stronger than otherwise, but from what I've this is the case.
Thanks for reading,
Ryan
Without a doubt, people who work out regularly with heavy weights and low reps will develop a slimmer, yet well toned physique, with less "excess bulk". If you've ever seen one of those wiry guys (or girls I suppose) in the gym lifting several times their body weight then you'll know what I'm talking about. Several of the people I work out with have exactly this kind of physiology. A friend of mine who has been working out for roughly five or so years (possibly more), is able to perform amazing feats of strength such as one arm chin-ups, making muscle ups look like child's play, and performing pull ups until you get bored of watching. Despite this and other feats, while retaining amazing definition, he weighs about as much as a regular person his height, and unless a person actually saw him with his shirt of, you would be hard pressed to imagine him doing any of these sorts of things.
Before I continue, I need to clarify a few things. The way you look is also largely defined by genetics, and the food you eat. While working out with heavy weights for low reps is likely the most efficient way to gain strength without extra bulk, not everyone reacts the same way. It's also important to mix your routines up, as getting stronger is your body adapting to stimulus, so if you want your body to keep adapting, you need to change the stimulus quite often. I'll speak more of this another time.
There is of course the method of workout out with moderate weights for a moderate number of reps. It is generally agreed upon that this area sits around 8-15 reps, which is more ideal for bodybuilders rather than strength trainers. If you are looking to "bulk up" and have less concern about functional strength, then you'll want to focus on that system rather than the former. My apologies to you, but I focus primarily on strength, so while I have and always will take care to verify my information, it might not always be applicable to this style of exercising.
Once again, before I continue I'd like to clear something up. While a majority of the people I have personally met who lift ridiculously large amounts of weight tend to have very little "excess bulk", I've also met a few very large people who are even stronger than them. Size is not often a good measure of an individual's actual strength, but that goes for people with the bulk as well. In other words don't make assumptions either way.
Unfortunately I won't be discussing the idea of using low weight with high reps in detail, but I will give a bit of insight into what I've seen at the gym in my school. I don't recommend it at all. The bottom line is people almost always work out either for strength or size, and judging by the people I've seen constantly flowing up to the gym only to grab a 10 pound weight for a good bicep pumping session, you'll have more progress lifting at least a moderate amount of weight. Alas I am not an expert and I can only base my opinions on what *I* have seen, so rather than taking my word on this for fact I suggest you research it yourself.
To summarize this article quickly, consider these options:
-If you are looking to become very strong but you don't want to look all bulked up, then I recommend you workout most often with heavy weights, and your reps don't exceed 8. Five reps works best for me.
-If you are looking for a more bulked up look, and don't get me wrong, there isn't anything bad about that, then you'll want to workout with moderate weights with anywhere from 8-15 reps.
-Either way you look at it, both will give you strength, and both will give you muscle tone. I also can't tell you that working out with heavy weights will make you considerably stronger than otherwise, but from what I've this is the case.
Thanks for reading,
Ryan
Calisthenics or Conventional Weights?
As I peruse the endless array of fitness videos created by some such amazing people as "Hannibal for King" and other well know body weight culturalists, one thing which I always come across in the comments sections are people stating such things as "I bet he can barely bench anything," or "Yeah he's got a strong upper body by pencil legs", to list a few. I'm sure that similar, yet opposite remarks have been made by calisthenics enthusiasts to powerlifters in much the same manner.
This kind of talk is often met with harsh words between parties, and a mine's bigger contest often ensues shortly afterward. One amusing confrontation arose from one of the leaders of the calisthenics crew "Bar-Barians" and some random powerlifter. By arose I don't actually mean that the Bar-Barians crew member, known as "Zef" was one of the people doing the arguing, but rather the powerlifter was as usual boasting about his lifts and stating that someone who only did calisthenics couldn't come close to achieving his lifts any day. The sad reality is that on Zef's page on the Bar-Barians website he stated that he benched 285 for 7 reps, which is an impressive amount for anyone aside from a professional athlete (by professional I mean paid), especially considering his bodyweight. The moral-well, morals rather-of this little fable are as follows: Don't always assume that because someone is very well versed in a particular discipline, whether it be calisthenics, bodybuilding, or powerlifting, that they aren't well versed in the others.
Also-and more importantly-don't try to state that one particular discipline is better than the other. These type of statements create circular and annoying arguments, and end up achieving nothing. They all have their benefits, and they all have their caveats. I find calisthenics extremely convenient in some ways, but being a person who works out with heavy weights for 3-5 reps, I am always having to pack weight on, take it off, peform endless drop sets, and so forth. Powerlifting allows me to very accurately tune the amount of weight I'm lifting, track my progress very easily, and end up sore the next day almost every workout session, which doesn't always happen when I perform a calisthenics workout. I personally find the concept of exercising purely for esthetic appeal as just plane silly, but that doesn't give me the right to defaecate on it because of my personal bias.
Having a negative attitude about people doing things differently is the root of a large majority of our troubles, so don't sour up other peoples passions and achievements just because their outlook is different.
Thanks for reading. My next blog will be a practical one, so stay tuned.
Ryan
This kind of talk is often met with harsh words between parties, and a mine's bigger contest often ensues shortly afterward. One amusing confrontation arose from one of the leaders of the calisthenics crew "Bar-Barians" and some random powerlifter. By arose I don't actually mean that the Bar-Barians crew member, known as "Zef" was one of the people doing the arguing, but rather the powerlifter was as usual boasting about his lifts and stating that someone who only did calisthenics couldn't come close to achieving his lifts any day. The sad reality is that on Zef's page on the Bar-Barians website he stated that he benched 285 for 7 reps, which is an impressive amount for anyone aside from a professional athlete (by professional I mean paid), especially considering his bodyweight. The moral-well, morals rather-of this little fable are as follows: Don't always assume that because someone is very well versed in a particular discipline, whether it be calisthenics, bodybuilding, or powerlifting, that they aren't well versed in the others.
Also-and more importantly-don't try to state that one particular discipline is better than the other. These type of statements create circular and annoying arguments, and end up achieving nothing. They all have their benefits, and they all have their caveats. I find calisthenics extremely convenient in some ways, but being a person who works out with heavy weights for 3-5 reps, I am always having to pack weight on, take it off, peform endless drop sets, and so forth. Powerlifting allows me to very accurately tune the amount of weight I'm lifting, track my progress very easily, and end up sore the next day almost every workout session, which doesn't always happen when I perform a calisthenics workout. I personally find the concept of exercising purely for esthetic appeal as just plane silly, but that doesn't give me the right to defaecate on it because of my personal bias.
Having a negative attitude about people doing things differently is the root of a large majority of our troubles, so don't sour up other peoples passions and achievements just because their outlook is different.
Thanks for reading. My next blog will be a practical one, so stay tuned.
Ryan
Eating Right - My Way
Alas the great Jack Lalanne has passed on and a person who I very much looked up to is with us no more. Mr. Lalanne left the world a wide cornucopia of valuable information on everything that is fitness, and despite a large series of "Medical Professionals" stating that strenuous exercise will do little more than cause injury-keeping in mind those theories were from the 1940s or so if I recall correctly-he continued on and showed us what being healthy is.
Jack Lalanne left us among others two very important messages with his legacy. To begin with, if you treat your body with respect, it will return it back to you, perhaps not immediately, but without a doubt eventually-unless you get hit by a bus a week into your new health regime. He also let us know that science, despite being in general my preferred system of beliefs is not infallible by any means, and a lot of times scientists are just as full of it as religious fanatics. Ultimately their paychecks have to come from somewhere, and morals tend to become blurred in the face of a cold hard lump of cash. That being said, I recommend to you as someone trying to lead a healthier life, or simply as a curious reader, that you take everything-and I mean everything-with a grain of salt.
Despite my relatively young age, fitness has become quite a passion of mine, and with it I have learned an amazing amount about myself and others. From the very start of my fitness endevour which amounted to an overweight 12 year old who literally could not do a push up, to my current level of fitness, I have always questioned, tested, verified, and refuted claims for myself. What has been borne from these years, and no doubt into the future, is the way I keep my body healthy. You'll find a lot of similarities, and a lot of differences in the way I do just that, and it is my hope that I will provide you-the reader-with some solid, personally tested, less biased, applicable info on subjects ranging from weightloss, strength training, cardio (my greatest enemy), and training your brain to do seemingly amazing feats as well.
To cap off my first post I'll give you some hopefully interesting information about myself. I was born and have lived for my entire life on a small island off the coast of southwest British Columbia (Canada). I've grown up on a farm with horses, dogs, cats, birds, deer, and other annoying animals, and I spend much of my free time hiking through woods.
My body type is mesomorphic, and this combined with drinking two soft drinks a day for two years until about the age of 12 made me gain about 20 pounds of extra fat by grade 8, which I was very self-conscious about. I started exercising around this time, but I did very little and mostly focused on Push ups, as I had no equipment or knowledge to do otherwise. About a year ago or so I started eating much healthier, and exercising much more regularly, which given me a large amount of confidence despite what little I've done compared to most others (more on that in another blog). My preferred method of exercising is calisthenics (bodyweight) but I currently and for the next five or so months I have access to a moderately equipped gym for free, and I've been focusing mostly on fundamental compound lifts (bench press, overhead press, squats, deadlifts), and I plan on doing so until I graduate.
I'm currently 17, and in my last year of highschool.
If you are still reading this, my passions are of course exercising, hiking, mentalism, sad attempts at lucid dreaming, poker as of late, walking around at night, and a few others which I can't think of at the moment. Oh as you can tell I love writing long winded articles. In school I'm an intelligent underachiever, and I tend to be extremely introverted unless I'm around people I know well.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading.
Ryan
Jack Lalanne left us among others two very important messages with his legacy. To begin with, if you treat your body with respect, it will return it back to you, perhaps not immediately, but without a doubt eventually-unless you get hit by a bus a week into your new health regime. He also let us know that science, despite being in general my preferred system of beliefs is not infallible by any means, and a lot of times scientists are just as full of it as religious fanatics. Ultimately their paychecks have to come from somewhere, and morals tend to become blurred in the face of a cold hard lump of cash. That being said, I recommend to you as someone trying to lead a healthier life, or simply as a curious reader, that you take everything-and I mean everything-with a grain of salt.
Despite my relatively young age, fitness has become quite a passion of mine, and with it I have learned an amazing amount about myself and others. From the very start of my fitness endevour which amounted to an overweight 12 year old who literally could not do a push up, to my current level of fitness, I have always questioned, tested, verified, and refuted claims for myself. What has been borne from these years, and no doubt into the future, is the way I keep my body healthy. You'll find a lot of similarities, and a lot of differences in the way I do just that, and it is my hope that I will provide you-the reader-with some solid, personally tested, less biased, applicable info on subjects ranging from weightloss, strength training, cardio (my greatest enemy), and training your brain to do seemingly amazing feats as well.
To cap off my first post I'll give you some hopefully interesting information about myself. I was born and have lived for my entire life on a small island off the coast of southwest British Columbia (Canada). I've grown up on a farm with horses, dogs, cats, birds, deer, and other annoying animals, and I spend much of my free time hiking through woods.
My body type is mesomorphic, and this combined with drinking two soft drinks a day for two years until about the age of 12 made me gain about 20 pounds of extra fat by grade 8, which I was very self-conscious about. I started exercising around this time, but I did very little and mostly focused on Push ups, as I had no equipment or knowledge to do otherwise. About a year ago or so I started eating much healthier, and exercising much more regularly, which given me a large amount of confidence despite what little I've done compared to most others (more on that in another blog). My preferred method of exercising is calisthenics (bodyweight) but I currently and for the next five or so months I have access to a moderately equipped gym for free, and I've been focusing mostly on fundamental compound lifts (bench press, overhead press, squats, deadlifts), and I plan on doing so until I graduate.
I'm currently 17, and in my last year of highschool.
If you are still reading this, my passions are of course exercising, hiking, mentalism, sad attempts at lucid dreaming, poker as of late, walking around at night, and a few others which I can't think of at the moment. Oh as you can tell I love writing long winded articles. In school I'm an intelligent underachiever, and I tend to be extremely introverted unless I'm around people I know well.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading.
Ryan
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