Really good direction. I’ve suffered from squats because my core was not strong enough. Before squats I warm up the lateral obliques by doing side lifts with a dumbbell. I handle one dumbbell at a time, do 16 reps, then switch sides. Next, I’ll warm up the posterior lower back and hamstrings by doing upper body raises.
With all exercise - properly warming up by stretching and using light weights is essential in avoiding injury.
I’ve never had a herniated disc that I know of but have suffered really painful strained back muscles. Having a strong core and always properly warming up can do a lot to avoid injury to the back.
That is a good warm up before squats/deadlifts to engage the core.
It is unfortunate to see people with back issues wearing those elastic velcro belts around their waist, it doesnt actually help with their injury and the reliance on it could actually worsen the problem.
I haven’t seen it mentioned here, but to get the most out of squats and deadlifts, you need to have good hip mobility. If your range of motion isn’t good, your form will suffer and you’ll be much more likely to get hurt.
This is very true. I’m 6’2 and getting low has always been a problem for me. I started doing capoeira several years ago and while I don’t practice anymore it did help me get a lot more flexible. I hope to start doing yoga very soon. Knowing how the muscles of the body work in moving weights along with being flexible are both very advantageous to the weight lifter. Very important to understand muscle recovery and to pace exercises appropriately to avoid injury and to realize the improvements you are going for.
Yes. I should emphasize - be very careful trying to find your limits.
I would suggest avoiding pushing yourself to the limit at all. Debilitating injuries that might forever put a cap on your everyday, ordinary abilities are easily achieved. Tearing muscles, damaging ligaments etc will provide you years of remembering the text, the warning, I am sharing with you now.
I’ve experienced it and witnessed it too often. Someone on their own or someone being encouraged by another to do more or to press on with more more more, many times results in never seeing that person in the gym again.
I have seen things that have been really painful to watch because I know the kind of injury that is invited.
When I was trying to lose weight I was counting calories. I would go to the 711 and look at the fresh, ready to eat food. Everything they have shows you the number of calories. With a calorie deficit I lost weight really fast.
If you are trying to add weight or lose weight you can use something like the following to give you an idea. Using this method I was able to safely lose the weight I wanted to lose. After you get used to this diet you don’t have to keep counting because you are already aware of what portions you should be consuming. This worked for me. After only 4 months I was where I wanted to be.
You’ve got to start somewhere. Here is something really simple. Lay on the floor and raise your feet 6 inches into the air while keeping the legs straight. Do both at the same time or one at the time. Do this until your abs burn then rest. Do this for 3 sets.
Also, do as I suggested above - lateral raises. Use one hand to hold a dumbbell, book, or bucket of water. Lean toward the side you are holding the object. Don’t lean too far. Don’t lean more than you need to touch the side of your knee with your finger tips. Do this for each side, one side at the time. Do 3 sets of 16. Do these exercises with 1 or 2 days of rest between.
I’ll make a video to share with another awesome exercise for the abs, arms, shoulders, and legs.
You always have to work on the antagonistic muscles as well. For the chest, the antagonistic muscles are in the back (do pull-ups), and for the biceps you need to work on the triceps as well (do diamond push ups).
You will really look strange only working on chest and biceps. Yes, exercises to build your back also build your biceps - pulling exercises. Building your chest will also mean building your triceps - pushing exercises.
If you want big arms - big biceps - your triceps are actually (and naturally) bigger muscles than the biceps.
I was just being a jerk with my question. Sorry about that. I thought everyone would know.
The last time I did weights was about two years ago. I did almost no bench and curls, and instead did almost all back and shoulder exercises. Shoulder to prevent injury when swimming (rear delts are not an easy muscle area to target). Back because my chest and biceps are okay from swimming. No legs because I don’t think my knees can handle squats anymore. I do cycle (and also run a bit) so that’s not a huge issue for me. This was once a week. Light weights. Lots of pulling exercises and slowly going through the motions and sometimes even pausing at the end to feel the back and shoulder muscles I was trying to target.
Yes, the back of the shoulders is a hard one to build. It’s very important to build these to bring balance to your appearance if you are doing everything else.
Here is my first pull-up set Saturday night (yesterday). I did 2 sets of these at different times during my workout. This video was made after my warmup of doing 4 or 5 different things so this was my first heavy set.
With any exercise it is very important to carefully manage the weight. Doing pull-ups, you really need to be careful on the eccentric motion. So control the weight as you release the concentric effort to push/pull the weight. Doing this exercise, if you drop your weight too fast and let your muscles or joints stop you suddenly you are asking for an injury.
Also, don’t lower yourself down entirely which will put stress on your joints and ligaments. Make sure your back and biceps are kept engaged throughout the entire range of motion. Look at my arms at the bottom/end of the repetition. My arms are still bent because I still have the back and bicep muscles fully engaged.
I am giving caution to you from experience. I can do this exercise without any pain today. Previously I was limited because I injured my right bicep doing something that obviously was done wrong.
I just started these hanging leg raise exercises. This was my third attempt with a couple of days between the previous efforts. I might have done 2 sets on one of the previous days.
This will really hammer your core. You will get the feels for sure. This will burn all of your abs and lateral obliques all at the same time.
Since seeing someone doing these in the gym I was always impressed. Took me forever to get enough courage to make an attempt. I think the first 4 or 5 reps are respectable for a beginner. I’m hoping to be able to do 10 reps with good form after 2 or 3 weeks.