In Fitness and in Health
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I don't post very often, when I do, I try to make sure it's of value. Take it or leave it
Hi Doug, I greatly appreciate your long and detailed post. I've read it in it's entireity twice, and have terms to search for local sellers of KB's.
Funnily enough I have found yoga exacerbating a lingering shoulder injury I have. Almost like it's double jointed and I've been unable to develop the muscles to keep the ball in it's socket. Most twists would pull it out, but worst of all, no matter what, downward facing dog would kill me. I'd practiced Yoga for 3 years and was okay with head and shoulder stands, but after taking a break the injury kicked in/flared up (lost the muscle) and Yoga was unable to fix…Cross fit is $200/month here, and far less appealing than working out in my own house, especially since I work from home.
Essentially, thank you again Doug, I will be getting started on this hopefully before the new year (can't stand NY resolutions, personally, but they work for many, and power to those ;)).
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I've read on other forums that you want to avoid the ones that are rubberized, and the ones with the weird indent on one side. They wind up being less versatile and comfortable ultimately. Also, beware of the ones with welded handles and have a seam in the center. The ones with the handles welded to the body have a tendency to break off mid swing, and the ones that have a seam in the center will tear up your hands. IJ swears by the competition style ones, I love my Cap Barbell kettlebells
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Doug, I too found your post helpful… Going to look into the yoga first. My wife has done yoga occasionally and we already have some cheap mats.
Going to see if I can get her on board doing it together as I've been meaning to do yoga for a while and DDP yoga is the first yoga I can see myself getting excited about. Also I've messed around with kettlebells before but haven't ever tried to really focus on it an learn proper KB form which I'm sure makes a big difference.
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I'm glad my post was helpful to you guys. In my mid 20's, I used to go to the gym 5-6 days a week with the same bunch of meatheads and we'd spend hours trying to outdo each other (actually, most of the time was spent talking shit to each other). I don't have that much time anymore, and the guys moved on years ago to other gyms, so moving crazy weight just isn't fun anymore. I really have enjoyed these two systems and have experienced good results with them
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I don't take any anymore
My diet is mainly protein and veg. I do take in some carbs, but not a whole lot. Usually only a muffin or croissant at breakfast. Maybe some rice with my lunch. I tried the no carbs diet, but my body didn't respond well. I think it's because I'm Asian and our diets have revolved around carbs for a long, long time
My family and I try our best to stay away from processed foods. That's been a big thing for us. We also eat a lot of organic foods, not for nutritional value, but more because we prefer the taste. And because we like the way our unprocessed organic foods taste, we eat more of the healthy foods (whole vegetables, lean protein)
Edit: I DO take Metamucil, but that's mainly for my cholesterol. My wife doesn't believe me as I'm chowing down on a pork chop and I say my cholesterol is on "E"
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Did you find that supplements added to your growth? I lift 3 days a week and have done for 8 years or so. I've pretty much plateaued and I'm in the midst of deciding what I want to do. Do I want to be happy where I am or push for gains. I'm not overly strong (bench 225, squat maybe 245), and just can't seem to push above those numbers. And maybe it's hidden underneath a thin to middling layer of fat, but I don't really put on any noticeable size.
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I found that creatine was helpful with my overall energy levels, and protein added to size and some power, but what I found to be most helpful in changing a couple of things:
- more sleep
- more water
- changing out routines (if I'm stuck at barbell bench press, change to dumbells, or start with incline bench instead of flat bench) When I got back to what I was stuck on, I usually "unplugged" that "clog"
- reverse pyramids. Most of the time, I would start light, knock out 8-10 reps, then go heavier, with my heaviest around 2-4 reps. If I'm stuck at a plateau, I would start heavy, then go light. That REALLY makes a difference in getting out of a rut. NB: you MUST MUST MUST have an adequate warm up for this or else you're going to hurt yourself
- when lifting compound joint exercises, you're only going to lift as much as the weakest chain in the link. If you can figure out what that is, work on it and you will increase your max. ex: my right shoulder is weak from a couple injuries doing martial arts. Focusing a little more on my anterior deltoid helped with my bench
I'm sure there are other tips for getting out of a rut, but that's all I could think of that worked for me
Oh yeah, one more thing, taking a break from the gym once in awhile will "recharge the battery". When you go for months on end (4 months was usually my limit), you get to the point of diminishing returns. At that point, I would take a week off and do nothing except go for walks)
The bad news is: there's no magic bullet for getting out of a rut. You're just going to have to find out what works for you through trial and error
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Oh yeah, one more thing that came to me: changing your schedule can help too
I used to have a five day split: chest, back, shoulders, arms and legs. In that order
When I was in grad school, I could only make it to the gym four days a week. I changed it to chest and tris, back and bis, shoulders and tris, legs and bis. I immediately saw growth when I did that. I didn't do all of my bicep or tricep exercises in a single day, I split them up amongst my two designated days for them, if that makes sense
I did abs every other day
PS-the weight that you're doing is perfectly respectable. I'm not even sure I was doing that much by the time I quit barbell/dumbell training
