Weight Lifting for Hackers
littlebitofcode.com
littlebitofcode.com
Yes, you can think through problems while lifting but that's hardly unique to weight lifting. Ditto for books on tape.
I'm not hating on weight lifting here (I've been lifting consistently for 9+ years) but I just don't see this as being Hacker News.
PS - I think you meant to write "read" instead of "ready" here: "In particular, the Freakonomics audio books are quite good as they are ready by the author, as is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell."
In a similar vein, stay tuned for my next two articles "Making a sandwich for Hackers" and "Cleaning your bathroom for Hackers".
To reiterate my point, making sandwiches and cleaning bathrooms is something most hackers do regularly. Lifting weights is not. A better analogy would be a "learning calligraphy for hackers" article that explained how learning calligraphy can be a benefit to hackers and how, given hacker's programming knowledge, one should go about it.
A few additional points:
a) Form, particularly on Squats & Deadlifts, is key. If you do them wrong you'll fuck yourself up. The stuff by Mark Rippetoe, particularly Starting Strength, is awesome for this.
b) If you want to make progress you'll need to consume a surplus of calories. A good way to do this is to add full fat milk to your diet (a liter of full fat milk is approximately ~700 kCal). If you aren't gaining, eat more. If you're a young, skinny guy just starting out it's very easy to put on 15 lbs in a month[1] from squatting three times each week and drinking a fuckload of milk.
c) The advice on lowering the bar slowly then exploding upwards is mostly crap. Just move the weight under control.
[1] Some of this will be fat but most will be muscle.
If you don't build muscle very easily, then you need to be careful with extraneous physical activity. As an ectomorph, I find that I need ALL of my 4500 daily calories to build muscle. I generally lift 3 times a week with a 4th day of dedicated to cardio at the end of the week. I rotate between 4 week sets of cardio/muscle-building as well.
That works well for me. The authors suggestion of doing daily cardio might very well be sabotaging your results.
They heavy weights are there to persuade your body to hang onto muscle which is metabolically expensive and therefore eliminated if not used.
I'm curious how much you were eating to wind up with loads of fat. I've put on ~40 lbs in the last year and still have a six pack [2].
[1] much is a maximum of 1 lb a week.
[2] In favorable lighting.
I'm curious as to whether you just started drinking a gallon of milk every day from the get go? Because I imagine that adding ~2800 kCal to your maintenance diet would tend to pile on rather more fat than usual.
Also I'd assume that the average HNer could put together a diet that's pretty reasonable with minimal preparation, however, here's a few pointers I've followed...
General diet guidelines:
a) For optimal health, the fewer calories you eat without starving or failing to satisfy nutritional requirements the better (ie caloric restriction). Hence eating to gain weight, even muscle, probably necessitates a sub-optimal strategy.
b) Body transformation is made in the kitchen, not the gym. If you eat less than maintenance calories you'll lose weight, more than maintenance calories you'll gain weight and make better strength gains. Heavy weightlifting is a must to begin with, but your work in the kitchen determines your outcome.
c) Don't eat processed food. It's normally High GI and full of crap [1].
d) Eat six small meals each day, at even intervals. This seems to work better than three large meals. Of course, if you're bulking, then you'll be eating six large meals each day and feeling sick most of the time.
e) Eat lots of non-starchy vegetables and some fruit. Vegetables implies things like broccoli and spinach. For fruit aim for things like berries. More vegetables than fruit because you can overdo the fructose.
f) Eat plenty of fish, nuts, avocadoes and other healthy fats. If you need to boost your calories further a shot (30 mL) of olive oil is ~ 250 kCal and only takes a minute.
g) Eat fewer carbs, and make sure they're low GI. Hence things like lentils, brown rice, quinoa, etc. Eat carbs early in the day as they seem to give you more energy.
h) Another fine protein source is skinless chicken breasts. I boil mine and throw away the fat that floats to the top. Eggs [2] can also provide lots of protein.
i) Full fat milk is awesome for gaining weight as it is quick to drink and provides quick calories.
j) Diets continue in perpetuity. It's like showering or brushing your teeth. You don't brush your teeth twelve times a day for a month then say "well, that's taken care of" and never brush them again.
k) Post workout (for all the good post workout nutrition does) drink something with carbs and protein. I generally go for a liter of milk.
l) If you're trying to reduce your caloric intake, replace food with things that are calorically sparse. If you eat a big salad [3] before each meal you'll reduce the number of calories you can get through without feeling hungry.
m) If you're trying to eat more and can't get through the food, buy a really good blender and drink as much as possible.
[1] I'd chiefly be worried about salt and high-fructose corn syrup. A lot of the threatening looking stuff on the label isn't, but it's a pain in the ass to figure that out.
[2] I'm not sure whether they're good or bad for you today.
[3] With no dressing or something with minimal calories if you aren't hard enough.
Potentially many of these could be debated as nutrition is a bit of a clusterfuck of contradictory information, but I'm reasonably confident in them.
There is a dedicated olympic lifting school blocks from where I live, but in my experience almost nobody knows anything about how to train with a back injury. I'd like to go in at least prepared with the right questions to ask.
I know that Paul Chek has rehabilitated many of my favorite athletes. For instance, Danny Way broke his neck surfing, and Chek got his body back in shape for his crazy mega ramp stuff. I was thinking of finding a Chek certified trainer, but unfortunately it seems that whole scene has veered off into borderline cult territory.
This is really NOT hacker news but since the topic is here I thought I'd pose the question. At least it seems like there are some smart people here. Fitness forums are always bonkers and loaded with bad advice.
a) use a "Roman Chair", but only a particular type of Roman Chair: one that allows the footrest to be at the same level or above the hip/stomach rest. That is this (good) http://www.sport-n-goods.com/acatalog/92625w.jpg rather than this (bad) http://www.donoliver.co.nz/images/CT-2072%2045%20Roman%20Cha...
And don't use it the way they usually illustrate here http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=op...
Your back should never be hyperextended (effectively, leaning backward) as if in orgasmic bliss, as they so often show.
Instead use it like the leftmost 2 photos here http://www.fitsugar.com/Roman-Chair-Explained-946313
The "bad" Roman Chair, the one that puts you at a 45 degree angle with your head above your hips, will likely injure your back if you have any pre-existing problem.
Instead use a Roman Chair that puts your feet and hips at the same level and allows you to hang with your head down and your torso vertical. Once you're in position (head straight down), lift yourself slowly to 45 degrees from vertical, no more, lower and try to and relax the back spinal muscles. The whole point is to use your upper-body weight to stretch out those tight spinal muscles.
Over time you can add weight. Put the weight on the floor, get in position (head down) and only then pick up the weight. The greater the weight the more your back stretches. Increase weights only slowly over the weeks.Always warm up with no weight first.
b) there are good lower back exercises from the Royal Canadian Airforce 5BX Fitness Plan at http://www.corvedale.previewurl.com/5bx/
chart 1, exercise 2
chart 2, exercise 2
chart 3, exercise 2
Read about 5BX before starting. The chart 1 exercises are intended to be done for awhile before starting chart 2, etc. That is, don't start at chart 2. Otherwise you may hurt yourself.
If you can find a good one they might be able to work through some of the issues with you.
I think one of the biggest errors I see at the gym are people NOT pushing 110%. No gains will be made unless you push yourself to the max. The way I judge a successful workout is how hard it is to lift my arms up to shampoo my hair in the shower afterward, how much my legs feel like jelly walking down stairs after, etc. I also love feeling sore the next day. It equals muscle fiber recruitment. Diet also has a big impact, but... I won't delve into that here.
I'm also starting to add in a bit of cardio post-lifting so I can get below 10% body fat (post lifting is the best time to run as your body is in the optimum state to burn fat), and just bought a pair of vibram fivefingers in preparation. Excited! Research barefoot running if you haven't heard of it, it is enlightening.
Also, since people are recommending their personal favourites, I think you can do a lot worse than 5/3/1: http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_train... He sells (very cheaply) the program, but it's actually almost all in that interview. One thing not included is his own method for estimating your 1RM, which differs a bit from the article's: weight + weight * reps / 30. It has been a pretty useful approximation in my experience.
It's my favorite exercise by far. Except the way I learned it is you bring your knees to your chest when you jump (that forces you to jump high).
I do 1, then 2, then 4, etc, taking about a 30 second break in between. It does both muscles and cardio. It's super-intense. Just go until you collapse. It gives you a solid workout in around five minutes.
Check out any video clips of him in action if you need any further inspiration -- the guy is a machine.
The most important bits of advice I ever got came from an ex-Olympic weight training coach: don't rely on a partner to spot you and motivate you and don't make the workout so hard that it's not enjoyable. The former is important because your motivation is not tied to someone else's. Over the years I've had weightlifting partners come and go, but in the end my success has been tied to my own motivation. The latter is really the key: if you go extremely hard and kill yourself working out, this will be what you remember on the days you don't so much feel like lifting, and ultimately it will cause you to procrastinate.
Consistency is the most important thing, not intensity. Once weight lifting becomes something routine that you "just do" every day, and not part of some major life changing period of your life, it starts to work.
I have exercised both with weights and without, and I think for the time spent, and given that like me most of you probably sit at a desk, you will get more benefit with less chance of injury, by doing calisthenic/pilates style exercises.
The reason is that posture and the use of small muscles to make adjustments, plus working the abs/core, are more important when sitting down, and help you avoid injury.
The simplest plan is Canada's "5BX" plan designed for their air force.
A more complex set of exercises are the series done by John Peterson, such as "Pushing Yourself to Power" that focus on using your own body resistance plus variations on pushups and what are variously called "burpees", "Hindu squats", etc. (I have no financial or other interest in his company, which is at http://www.bronzebowpublishing.com/ )
Not true. Lowering the weight works the same muscle as lifting it.
This is a really big error, and I don't see how it could be a typo. Agonist ("doer") and antagonist (opposing) muscles contract simultaneously when stabilizing a joint, but when lifting weights, the antagonists of the primary action (triceps and to some extent anconeus for curls) are relaxed both during concentric and eccentric contraction of the agonists (biceps, brachialis, and to some extent brachioradialis and a few other muscles of the forearm for curls). That is to say, the author's claim is absolutely wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_contraction#Eccentric_co...
Besides it feels so good to just put some crazy amount on Scott's bench ask somebody to help you lift it and then just try to put it down as slowly as possible :)
for the average person doing weighted dips and pullups is more than enough. do those combined with jogging up hills a few times a week and you'll be in great shape. if you want to take it further you should be doing olympic lifts. anything else is really for professionals with specific needs or people with medical problems.
Physical education students were matched into three groups; G90 (n = 9) trained with a load of 90%, G35 (n = 11) with 35%, and G15 (n = 10) with 15% of 1RM (1 repetition maximum). Training consisted of three to five sets, performed three times a week for 9 weeks. Each set consisted of two, seven and ten repetitions in G90, G35 and G15, respectively. Training was performed with the nondominant arm, and the dominant arm served as control. The 1RM increased 15.2 (SD 4.5)% (P < 0.001) in G90, 10.1 (SD 5.9)% (P < 0.001) in G35 and 6.6 (SD 7.9)% (P < 0.05) in G15.
This bit was surprising to me:
In the untrained arm, 1RM also increased for G90 and G15. In contrast to G90, G15 showed a similar increase in 1RM in both arms.
1) You claim that "weighted dips and pullups" combined with "jogging up hills a few times a week" amounts to a complete exercise regime. As far as dips and pullups go, the average person would benefit much more from a simple weightlifting routine like Starting Strength. Additionally, HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training) is a far more effective than steady-state cardio.
2) You state that the average person should pursue Olympic lifts if they want to "take it further". Olympic lifts are some of the hardest exercises to perform correctly, and can be dangerous when attempted by untrained novices. While this makes for good competition, this is impractical for the average trainee. The complex movements involved in performing Olympic lifts can be broken down into more isolated sub-movements, e.g. military press and the power clean rather than the entire clean and jerk. These sub-lifts are far easier to master, and thus more worthwhile to any trainee not looking to compete in an Olympic-style lifting competition.
if you just care about looking buff or losing/gaining weight quickly, do few high-weight reps. if you're training to be a fighter or just want to be highly conditioned, do lots of reps.
small to medium dumbbells in combination with different exercises (squats, lunges, burpees, squat jumps, etc) can definitely give you an edge in your overall conditioning. jump training is very effective with a good amount of extra weight (30lbs or more) - of course watch your landing. even punching for 3 minutes with 5lb dumbbells is insane.
While not exactly the same issue look up 'open chain' versus 'closed chain' exercises.
It's not easy because you're supposed to do it until failure.
And if you're aiming at improving your muscular endurance, then lots of reps with a light weight are more useful than low reps with a heavier weight. There are several studies that show this. Example:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/t96qmxyaa7x7le0c/
Subjects were divided into four groups: a low repetition group (Low Rep, n=9) performing 3–5 repetitions maximum (RM) for four sets of each exercise with 3 min rest between sets and exercises, an intermediate repetition group (Int Rep, n=11) performing 9–11 RM for three sets with 2 min rest, a high repetition group (High Rep, n=7) performing 20–28 RM for two sets with 1 min rest, and a non-exercising control group (Con, n=5). (...) Maximal strength improved significantly more for the Low Rep group compared to the other training groups, and the maximal number of repetitions at 60% 1RM improved the most for the High Rep group.
First, 5 reps is fine sometimes. Look up periodization. The body adapts quickly so while 5 sets of 5 might work for a few weeks you eventually need to change it up. Plus your joints, tendons and ligaments get tired always lifting heavy.
Cardio has nothing to do with 'toning.' The old saying is 'abs are made in the kitchen not in the gym.' If you want to look tone (horrible term but we'll go with it) you need to have some muscle and then remove the fat from over top of it. The easiest way to remove fat is the cut calories. You can burn calories through exercise, but not nearly as much as people think.
Dips and pullups is nothing close to enough for a well rounded workout. If you want to do a workout without a gym Google bodyweight training. If you have access to a gym then look at the books 'Starting Strength' or 'New Rules of Lifting.' Both are good books by excellent authors and give you plenty of workout plans. With either, expect to spend about an hour in the gym 3 times per week.
diet is outside the purview of this discussion for now. of course diet has a massive impact. that's not what we're talking about.
I am well aware of various bodyweight routines. complicated programs are not needed. I'll admit I forgot a core routine, but between that and jogging on hills you're working every major muscle group.
Look at something like the 5/3/1 workout. It's set up in a manner that you can do it indefinitely because it has built in periodization. For 3 weeks you work up to near maximal weights then a 4th week of deload. This 4th weeks gives everything else (again - connector tissue, CNS) a chance to fully recover.
A complete program is not necessarily complicated. Running is NOT a replacement exercise for a squat and DL variation.
It's well established science that you should be doing about 5-15 repetitions per set, depending on whether you're focusing on hypertrophy or strength (overkill for non-professionals to even make the distinction, just stay between 8-12) — if you can do more than that then the exercise does not offer enough resistance, and if you can't do enough repetitions then likewise it's suboptimal (just like trying to lift a truck is a suboptimal exercise).
So, whenever your exercise using your own body weight as resistance offers you just the right amount of resistance to keep you within that range, then it's great. Most of the time though, it will be well outside of that range — so in the general case, using body weight as resistance is bad advice.
It makes it a completely different exercise altogether — the shoulder press exercise is not a substitute for the bench press and is nowhere near as efficient an exercise to build your chest muscles.
I believe most people spend far to much time on Cardio, and not nearly enough time developing their muscles. You get so much benefit in terms of metabolic changes from muscle building that it should be a part of any work-out. Cardio is important, no question. If your goal, however, is to change your physique you will get much more mileage from weight-lifting. This includes just a general weight-loss goal.
Really, I try to shoot for the fitness tri-fecta: * Eat right (in my case a high calorie diet with lots of vegetables protein, and dietary fat) * Build muscle (by lifting heavy objects multiple times, primarily through big compound exercises like squats and dead-lifts) * Build endurance with a cardio program (I alternate with my muscle building program)
And at least in terms of longevity, cognitive benefits, lowering risks for lifestyle diseases and , stress relief, cardio has a mountain of positive research backing it. For looks, it depends on what you're after. Not many male models are hulking gym rats, though.
It should be reasonably simple to understand that using your own bodyweight as resistance is a very inefficient means by which to achieve this.
Not only do you need to use weights to reach a level of efficiency, you need to also continuously push yourself harder all the time, or else your development curve will flatten.
This should not come as a surprise to anyone — for gymnasts, building muscle is a means to an end, and they don't want to build any extra muscle as that just weighs them down. For body builders, building muscle mass is everything.
Even if you do decide to go the gymnast route, you'll still be lifting weights (though not until you've been at it for years, and you probably won't be making some newbie gym mistakes like prioritizing biceps), it'll just take longer to achieve results because you're mostly focused on acquiring the skill and technique to do actual gymnastics.
As for your other claim, body builders do not accidentally add too much muscle. It is a wide-spread fear among people who don't exercise at all, but it does not actually happen. You absolutely, positively, won't wake up one day and realize that you've accidentally put on too much muscle.
Accidentally putting on so much muscle as to be detrimental to your health would be akin to walking home from school or work and suddenly realizing you accidentally walked around planet earth and the soles of your feet have been completely worn down — you will not suddenly complete a journey that takes most people extreme dedication and hard work over many many years.
Also, I didn't make a claim about accidentally adding too much muscle. I simply stated that the kind of muscles that weight-lifting builds is different from the kind of muscles you will build if you don't use weights. I've done both and simple routines that I can do at home exercise more muscle groups without isolating specific areas and overall I feel much better.
After reading that, I didn't need to look at his about page to know he worked in marketing. What a douche-bag.