2020 Health & Fitness Thread

[Accumulator]

For some reason, Pistols never really worked as a Quad-developer for me. Once I got dialed-in on them the benefits stopped coming and I started feeling that I was risking injury when I tried to up their intensity. OK, I`m paranoid about injuries, but I don`t want to start having them now after avoiding them since forever!

I don`t think I ever got over 25lbs. when augmenting Pistols by holding a DB.

[jrock645]

For some reason, Pistols never really worked as a Quad-developer for me. Once I got dialed-in on them the benefits stopped coming and I started feeling that I was risking injury when I tried to up their intensity. OK, I`m paranoid about injuries, but I don`t want to start having them now after avoiding them since forever!

I don`t think I ever got over 25lbs. when augmenting Pistols by holding a DB.

yeah i dont go all the way down on pistols. I just get to parallel by going down to seat level on my bench. Im up to about 30lbs for 12 on those. I think the bulgarians and weighted step ups are a better exercise. I hate the step ups though. Despise them.

[Accumulator]

jrock645- Ah, quick reply from you...glad I logged back on

Going down to "calves touch hams" was probably part of why I felt the Pistols were risky.

Step-ups were another that worried me once I got dialed-in enough to feel I was being serious with `em..I even have a swell step-up bench that`s nice and stable (and decently adjustable) but now I just use it to hold the DBs before I start things like presses.

Do the Bulgarians hit all the parts of your Quads? Do you feel adequately stable? I dunno if I`d want to try those with really heavy weight, but then I never did `em enough to get truly dialed-in.

I guess all those "single-leg free/body-weight movements" lack the stability I want...some would say that`s a feature, but [REPEAT concerns about injuries].

Even when I try One-leg Calf Raises...they`re tough alright, but they never translate into actual *gains* for some reason..maybe because I have to use so much less weight. But gee, SO MANY people do fine with those..one leg, hold a DB...but they bring my Calf development to a screeching halt in no time.

[Accumulator]

"I despise `em..."

Sounds like me with regard to the AirDyne and Leg Day! But not nearly as much as previously...kinda funny, but these days I no longer dread those, almost look forward to `em. My mindset flipped a switch while I wasn`t paying attention Lowering the frequency undoubtedly factored in, and/but I`m still simply amazed by how little exercising I have to do in some regards, never woulda thunk it for many years.

[jrock645]

Bulgarins take a little work to get good at. Initially, you wont feel stable and youll blame balance but its really a strength issue. I dont have the stability issue anymore. Theyre a better version of a lunge imo. And yeah, i feel like they hit the whole quad, and even the glute if youre getting as low as you should be.

[Accumulator]

Ah, OK...and yeah, I can see that about the stability/strength relationship, reminds me of how hard it once was to just stand on one leg for few minutes.

How long after Leg Day before you can do anything leg-related again? My inability to do much of *anything* for days is the one sore spot in my training, it messes with the balancing act between RT and Cardio, the sweet spot for one isn`t optimal for the other due to the RT Recovery thing

When you plateau, do you ever consider that maybe you`ve just hit your genetic potential? Between your diet, training, and the HRT you`re sure covering all the bases!

Heh heh, OK...enough posting, gotta go do Fores and Core (pretty easy RT day on Friday for once).

[jrock645]

Ah, OK...and yeah, I can see that about the stability/strength relationship, reminds me of how hard it once was to just stand on one leg for few minutes.

How long after Leg Day before you can do anything leg-related again? My inability to do much of *anything* for days is the one sore spot in my training, it messes with the balancing act between RT and Cardio, the sweet spot for one isn`t optimal for the other due to the RT Recovery thing

When you plateau, do you ever consider that maybe you`ve just hit your genetic potential? Between your diet, training, and the HRT you`re sure covering all the bases!

Heh heh, OK...enough posting, gotta go do Fores and Core (pretty easy RT day on Friday for once).

I train legs almost daily, but usually only a couple sets and never to failure. Plateaus happen, but thats where reactive deloads and proper progression modeling comes into play. Eventually, gains inevitably slow down. I still thing i have a ways to go before getting to that point.

The training is a bit different now with limited equipment. Menno himself trains 7 days a week, all full body. But that doesn`t mean squatting to failure 7 days a week. A couple days could be squats, another couple days might be RDL’s, another leg extrnsions, etc. You could be varying rep ranges on squat days, and possibly intensity levels as you get more advanced. He even recommends bloodflow reatriction training for more advanced trainees- like 30% of 1rm on leg extension for upwards of 30 reps- and i assume he employs this technique as he says hes pretty well maxed out his genetics, gaining less than 1lb of muscle per year.

Balanced properly, i actually rarely feel very sore from his workouts. The volume per body part per session isnt high(it is over the course of the training week, though), we dont lift to failure, and getting blood into the muscle 4-5 days a week actually seems to help with recovery.

[Accumulator]

I train legs almost daily, but usually only a couple sets and never to failure.

Now *that* really surprises me! Although I suspect that practically speaking it`s not that different from all the work my legs get during the hours of daily chores (which can get me as sore as a maxed-out lifting session, fair bit of to-failure work some times since I`m not using a Bobcat/etc.).


Though if I don`t train to failure when I *do* exercise (every 3 weeks for upper legs has turned out best for me although I can go four without any real dowside), I lose size/strength after about 5-6 weeks. Deconditioning goes faster for my other muscle groups since they don`t get used as much all the time.

Plateaus happen..Eventually, gains inevitably slow down.. [Menno].. says hes pretty well maxed out his genetics, gaining less than 1lb of muscle per year..

Yeah, otherwise some guys would be benching skyscrapers I`d sure *expect him to be maxed out by now..I can`t imagine anybody taking more than ~5 years unless they`re doing something really wrong (as I sure did for a long, long time ).

I still thing i have a ways to go before getting to that point.

I sometimes forget that I`ve been doing this for decades longer and that unlike most I`m merely tweaking details while primarily working at not suffering age-related decline.

Related- How`s your MMC coming along?

The training is a bit different now with limited equipment..

No doubt! I would never be able to maintain my normal condition if I had to train elsewhere/with different stuff for long.

Menno himself trains 7 days a week, all full body. But that doesn`t mean squatting to failure 7 days a week. A couple days could be squats, another couple days might be RDL’s, another leg extrnsions, etc. You could be varying rep ranges on squat days, and possibly intensity levels as you get more advanced...

OK, but I`d be a little surprised if he continues to train that way into his elderly years. But hey, somebody somewhere probably does fine with any approach you can think of...look at the stuff Jack Lalane was still doing and the way Bill Pearl continued to train!

He even recommends bloodflow reatriction training for more advanced trainees..

That`s getting a lot of attention in some quarters these days.

Balanced properly, i actually rarely feel very sore from his workouts. The volume per body part per session isnt high(it is over the course of the training week, though), we dont lift to failure, and getting blood into the muscle 4-5 days a week actually seems to help with recovery.

OK, as long as you`re getting the results you want, that`s all that really counts.

Are you aiming at any specific goal/timeframe to achieve it?

I`m still working on those ~3lbs of bodyfat I`d like to lose, maybe halfway there after...what?...three or so years maybe. As I said, just fine-tuning while working to not lose any size/strength/endurance as I age.

And I *still* haven`t started doing Planks! I keep thinking how you convinced me I probably should (only to quit doing them yourself) and it still sounds right, but I just haven`t done `em! By the time I get to my Core work at the end of the workouts, which take [freakin`] *forever* since I take so long between sets, I`m just so focused on *getting done already* that I don`t want to add anything, much less figure out how to go about something new. Or at least, well...that`s my excuse

[Bill D]

Accumulator, you have a PM from May 15. Have a look.

[Accumulator]

Accumulator, you have a PM from May 15. Have a look.

Gee, I must`ve been careless...didn`t think I`d missed one

[jrock645]

Now *that* really surprises me! Although I suspect that practically speaking it`s not that different from all the work my legs get during the hours of daily chores (which can get me as sore as a maxed-out lifting session, fair bit of to-failure work some times since I`m not using a Bobcat/etc.).


Though if I don`t train to failure when I *do* exercise (every 3 weeks for upper legs has turned out best for me although I can go four without any real dowside), I lose size/strength after about 5-6 weeks. Deconditioning goes faster for my other muscle groups since they don`t get used as much all the time.



Yeah, otherwise some guys would be benching skyscrapers I`d sure *expect him to be maxed out by now..I can`t imagine anybody taking more than ~5 years unless they`re doing something really wrong (as I sure did for a long, long time ).



I sometimes forget that I`ve been doing this for decades longer and that unlike most I`m merely tweaking details while primarily working at not suffering age-related decline.

Related- How`s your MMC coming along?



No doubt! I would never be able to maintain my normal condition if I had to train elsewhere/with different stuff for long.



OK, but I`d be a little surprised if he continues to train that way into his elderly years. But hey, somebody somewhere probably does fine with any approach you can think of...look at the stuff Jack Lalane was still doing and the way Bill Pearl continued to train!



That`s getting a lot of attention in some quarters these days.



OK, as long as you`re getting the results you want, that`s all that really counts.

Are you aiming at any specific goal/timeframe to achieve it?

I`m still working on those ~3lbs of bodyfat I`d like to lose, maybe halfway there after...what?...three or so years maybe. As I said, just fine-tuning while working to not lose any size/strength/endurance as I age.

And I *still* haven`t started doing Planks! I keep thinking how you convinced me I probably should (only to quit doing them yourself) and it still sounds right, but I just haven`t done `em! By the time I get to my Core work at the end of the workouts, which take [freakin`] *forever* since I take so long between sets, I`m just so focused on *getting done already* that I don`t want to add anything, much less figure out how to go about something new. Or at least, well...that`s my excuse

As far as timeline goes... I really try not to put an end date on stuff like this. It doesn`t work that way and you really have to be prepared to commit to the process. Sometimes it doesn`t go according to schedule. That said, diet fatigue is def setting in. Honestly, I`d have probably already ended the cut if it weren`t for gyms being closed. They open soon, but I`m not gonna jump back in right away. Hoping to be back in the gym middle of next month. I def plan on transitioning into a bulk in August. So I`m kinda planning on cutting until 4th of july, then slowly transitioning back to maintenance cals over the month of July, then into a slight surplus in August. Just hope nothing else happens with the virus and places closing. I can train effectively enough at home to retain muscle while cutting, but I just don`t see it being enough to put on bulk.

[Accumulator]

jrock645- Noting that it`s not mid-June yet, are you OK with going to the gym at this point?

I hope your cut/maintain/bulk cycling gives the results you`re after; I guess I`m just gonna be spending the rest of my life in, basically, Maintenance mode, still just a matter of not fixing what`s not broken. Though I can definitely tell some benefits from not having those Denny`s bfasts, bit of food-for-thought there.

[Bill D]

You should be able to dine again at Denny’s soon,no?

[Accumulator]

You should be able to dine again at Denny’s soon,no?

I could go this Fri. but I can`t shake the idea that it`d introduce a zillion unmanageable variables that I can simply avoid by staying home. Other than once/week grocery trips during Senior`s Hour we`re basically still quarantining, very different from thinking about every person that`s in the restaurant and everybody they might have come in contact with over the last two weeks...

We simply *cannot* catch this Virus. WE are the support system for our friends, and despite what people say IMO we don`t really have anybody to serve as an adequate support system for *us* in this case, what with BFF having moved to SC. Heh heh, that`s the one downside of being the "young healthy guy" (well, relatively speaking regarding the "young").

[jrock645]

jrock645- Noting that it`s not mid-June yet, are you OK with going to the gym at this point?

I hope your cut/maintain/bulk cycling gives the results you`re after; I guess I`m just gonna be spending the rest of my life in, basically, Maintenance mode, still just a matter of not fixing what`s not broken. Though I can definitely tell some benefits from not having those Denny`s bfasts, bit of food-for-thought there.

two more weeks and I’m back in the gym. Also, have a DEXA scan scheduled for June 13th. Curious to see where I land on that one.