Darebee – A database of workouts
darebee.com
darebee.com
I hesitate to speak for them, but I don't think their mission is to provide content for people who already know what they want out of exercise, have been exercising for years, and understand what is and isn't good for their body. If you're experienced in fitness, the site likely isn't for you. And that's fine, isn't it?
Some folks have called out perhaps not understanding the funding issues with hosting a site so minimal. You're right, that part is cheap. It's the content creators, who are fitness professionals spending their time not working for money that need to be supported by the funding. They also do various outreach programs that of course require money to make happen.
I ended up settling on lane swimming combined with a ~20min routine cobbled together from YouTube videos and other sources, mostly arm workouts built around a pair of 10lb dumbbells and then ab stuff like the dead bug exercise. I try to do the routine most days, sometimes twice a day.
Something like Darebee would have been valuable when I was just getting off the ground.
Darebee was good for me. I've said why it was. It is strange to me that you might consider my experience to be wrong? invalid? and that nobody else might find this resource useful?
Simply following that chart easily takes 45 mins and does a great job for physical and mental health. With pretty limited free time, I found the exercises to be very useful and as effective on average as going to the gym. I don't quite understand the value add of a fitness trainer for the average fitness Joe (like me)
I am by no measure a fitness expert ... please feel free to critique them in terms of utility to physical and mental health.
Learning proper technique. I am pretty injury-prone so having some live feedback for my form is important.
For some reason, exercise is that one thing that I think I would prefer to watch a video to learn over posters. Not sure why myself.
Form and transitions. Those are hard to illustrate in pictures. Case in point: it's pretty much impossible to illustrate correct rowing machine technique with pictures alone. I also recommend a mirror for yoga, or other "pose" exercises.
Feedback on form/routines/diet was also quite good in the forums.
For those asking about why they need funding, if I remember correctly they test all their programs before release, as well as film the exercises with the correct form, so it's not only hosting that they need to pay for. The videos are high quality, for example: https://darebee.com/exercises/push-ups.html
That's why I started to follow them. There is no such thing as bad publicity. LMAO
- "Position your feet with an outwards 45-degree angle": the angle depends on the hip anatomy, and 45 degrees is very extreme. Rather, make sure that your hip, knee and foot is in the same plane at all times.
- "Pause for a moment at the bottom" is okay but unnecessary.
- No mention of proper tension in the upper body (and especially avoiding rounding in the lower back). This can become extremely dangerous, and preventing injury should be the number 1 priority. (FYI, an amazing guide to bracing [1].)
- Also for safety: instead of "until your thighs just break parallel with the ground", one shall not go deeper than their mobility allows (which might be above parallel).
- It's hard to follow the movement with the camera moving up-and-down and zoomed in so much. A fixed camera that shows the entire body (and is possibly circling around the person) would be much better. The knees and ankles are very important, yet we get a single glance at her feet.
- The video shows the squatter in the opposite direction than in the description. This way she needs to walk backwards to put the weight back, which undesirable.
[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/weightroom/comments/h7yncz/brace_yo...
"Workouts by Darebee", which presents you a random workout sheet (multiple workouts with repetitions and a timer) and
"FitTap by Darebee", on which you are shown a random single workout. Tap anywhere on the screen for the next random workout.
I really cannot recommend them enough, they set the barrier of entry so incredibly low it's fantastic. I used to tediously plan my workouts, order, number of sets, read up on them in the web etc to exhaustion that I almost forgot to actually start the workout. That of course also has it's merits, but for a very quick 15 minute workout in your lunch break, these apps are so much better.
There are multiple studies[1] showing that lifting to exhaustion yields the same results regardless of the weight and number of reps, so it already seems like you're repeating conventional wisdom rather than verifiable science.
There seems to be so little science in the fitness world, I have trouble trusting anything. My friend is a physical therapist and shocked me by saying almost nothing they do has been verified by double-blind trials. I had always thought they were evidence-based practitioners, but they don't seem to be that much better than chiropractors.
1. https://www.cnet.com/health/lifting-heavy-weights-vs-light-w...
I think it's an area that IS hard to scientifically study - the bodies, goals, and progress are all so frequently and radically different, and confounding variables are everywhere - but for a lot of coaches it's not even a goal; there's a complete lack of humility in any coach, fitness trainer, or even phys ed teacher I've ever seen. There's a LOT of anecdotal certainty ("I've seen this work well"), and little solid demonstrable repeatable evidence.
For a good example of how inbred the exercise field is, consider what happened when a serious researcher actually read the "references" in exercise textbooks and found they had nothing to do with the received dogma on the strength-endurance curve.[0] So what happened? The major journals refused to publish the article! This podcast episode has its Kafkaesque moments.[1]
[0] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339270774_The_stren...
[1] https://highintensitybusiness.com/271-dr-james-fisher-do-dif...
Honestly, that's a step above what I encounter most of the time. I feel like most people who think they're exercise experts are just reading message boards and watching YouTube videos.
How do you double-blind telling a person to do push ups versus the person that does bench presses versus the control that watches them while eating dingdongs?
I was referring more to the different manipulations and exercises they choose for people. You can blind those studies by using sham exercises. They do the same thing (within ethical boundaries) for certain surgical procedures[1].
Worth noting: for both of the studies cited the high end of reps for light weight is 25 while the low end for reps in heavy is 8, both well within "conventional wisdom". What I mean by that is not that conventional wisdom is right, but that the truth probably lies somewhere in there, frankly the state of things is one that I hate, I'd love to be able to just take an exercise plan tested and true, the most similar thing I've found is Julian's Shapiro workout plan[1] which, from a google search, doesn't even have a good reputation in different fitness communities. Would love a larger discussion about that but it isn't that popular to begin with.
>My friend is a physical therapist and shocked me by saying almost nothing they do has been verified by double-blind trials. I'll one-up you here. A friend of mine is a physical therapist and as such most of my friends who exercise follow her word as gospel. Said gospel states that rest times above 90 seconds are way too much and that they should be preferably kept to 40 to 60 seconds. All I can argue is that about nothing points to that being optimal but it's not my field so it gets complicated.
[1] https://www.julian.com/guide/muscle/workout-plans
Sidenote: why in the world is that site not allowing me to press the wheel to scroll by moving the cursor?
I studied biomechanics & sports in an University. What I said, I learnt it in class, from people who actually run some of the studies we're talking about.
It's not rocket science tho, as you mentioned, studies are weak, methodology is harder to implement than in most fields, so I'm not saying "those are facts and deal with it". It might change. But AFAIK, it's the consensus in universities (or at least, was 5-6 years ago when I was studying there). And it seems to be that it's far to be common knowledge amongst coaches and trainers, I rarely meet people I agree with in these communities.
I'm not sure how that's relevant as an argument. They say you can do it but it's less efficient. Good, but why promote it then ? Most people want their routine to be short and efficient. And this is one thing amongst dozen of other problems. Muscle imbalance, lack of personalisation, risk of wrongdoing and injury, etc.
Ideal for hypertrophy? Strength? Power? Fat loss? Probably not endurance... Perhaps the exercise routines on this site aren't great (I don't know), if you have evidence to support your claims I would definitely be interested.
Small (3-8) sets for strength, bit longer ones for hypertrophy (10-12), but outside of specific extreme endurance training (e.g. long runners), training strength is often better than training endurance regarding to endurance tasks. You'll eventually do more regular PU if you train harder variations than if you simply increase PU volume. Strength work is also amazing for fat loss. Amongst other benefits, training for strength is much faster, and (in my very subjective experience) more psychologically rewarding.
Sources on this matter hard indeed scarce. I'm not saying those are just common knowledge, there are studies pointing toward what I said. I had access to those mostly during my biomechanics classes at University. But it's not amazing meta-analysis with double blind methodology and 3000 subject. Far from that. I'm open to change my mind when new (and better) studies will be released, but as the time of my studies, that's what you learn in universities
Mind you, this is a perfectly valid use of the word "database", and I appreciate having my mind expanded.
There’s also a subscription video service which I’ve gotten a ton of value out of, Mark Lauren on Demand, which has a bunch of exercise programs from beginner to advanced. I think it’s $9/month. All bodyweight stuff, and most exercises don’t require any equipment (a few need stuff like a pull-up bar, or a bench/table). They’ve been releasing new material regularly, most recently a program based on short 10-20min workouts. I like the balance of strength and mobility/flexibility work.
[0] https://drewbaye.myshopify.com/products/project-kratos-ebook
My key insight was to start with the RR and then supplement / mix it up once I understood what was going on. There are interesting variants and/or alternatives to the individual exercises in the RR that are worth exploring. You can target slightly different muscle groups in slightly different ways (e.g., hammer pull ups vs chin ups vs wide bar strict pull ups etc). You can rotate through them to keep things interesting.
A fun "hacker" approach (for me anyway) was to try to improvise supplemental exercises myself rather than looking them up. I independently discovered using rings for hamstring curls by messing around on my own, for example. Same with ring bicep curls.
If you have a pull-up bar and rings, the amount of variation at your disposal is really quite large.
This is great. This gives me confidence In the program.
However, I would say most people don't even realise how strong they could possibly get with a few years training without PEDs or becoming fat. Not "I can carry all my shopping in one trip" but "I could carry my own bodyweight in each hand". I think being that level of strong is just what, say, our great-grandfathers (or even great grandmothers) who grew up on a farm would think is normal.
I just try to move weights and feel if muscles ache at some point. I am kind of incapable of replicating routines.
If you can afford it, I’d recommend hiring a trainer for at least 3 lessons spaced out over your first few weeks so you can tune your form on the exercises, learn to build core control, and build good habits to avoid injury.
That said, this is definitely one of the best/simplest ways to build physical strength, get comfortable with the bar, and get ready for more advanced training. After 8 weeks, I was squatting 3x what I was when I started.
Eventually, I switched to a plan put together by a trainer in my neighborhood, where we do a little more rotation just to keep things interesting. Keeping things interesting is NOT important when you're first learning though. If you're like me, just being able to throw another 10 lb on the bar when coming back after the weekend off was interesting!
Plainly put, there is isn't a super fast way. My understanding and experience is that muscle is developed over time with progressively more difficult weight. Critically, the recovery period for your muscles is required as that's when new muscle is being formed. I believe that rushing that process is what is most likely to lead to an injury, which funny enough will slow you down in the quest for strength. In other words, a heavy 6 day/week workout won't make you strong, but simply constantly exhausted.
I would advocate for the long slow road. There's no rush, and I believe you'll be stronger in the long run if you take your time. It's easier to handle mentally too in my opinion. You don't have to stress about going fast to be strong quickly. Enjoy it!
If you think weight lifting sounds cool, take up a program like Starting Strength or Strong Lifts 5x5. 3 days a week, often doing squats and throwing in bench press, dead lifts, and barbell rows. Take your time here! Look up videos on techniques and realize that people will be absolutists about form. Try and match the form, and be aware of different body types and how that will change the forms. Do this for a few cycles which would last 2-4 months. Assess your progress. It will be easy to tell because you'll be writing down your progress and adding weight each time you successfully complete a day. As it gets too difficult to maintain, look into new programs and go from there.
If you're not into weight training, I think a site like this is great. You'll want to scale back on how many reps/sets a bit, and study some techniques. You'll feel some changes over time, and in the beginning mostly a bit of confusing soreness.
Anyway, that's my recommendation! I genuinely hope you find what works for you and stick with it!
I'd say do a 5x5 program consistently for 3 months, and track your progress over that time. If you follow the program, you'll progressively add weights each time you do that range until you complete a cycle or cannot complete the 5x5 set successfully.
Ex: You start off at 100lbs x 5 reps on the bench press, twice per week. If you do a 3 week cycle, it might look like this:
* 100 x 5 * 105 x 5 * 110 x 5 * 115 x 5 * 120 x 5 * 125 x 5
It's important to understand what you achieved here. Increasing weight this quickly is extremely good progress. Eventually you'll hit points where adding even 5lbs more feels difficult. So remember that 25lbs is a big amount. Keep that in mind as you go.
Usually these programs will have you take a slight break/do light weights on the 4th week. Then you'll repeat the 4 week cycle, but you increase your starting point from 100lbs to 110lbs (or something along those lines).
At some point, you'll get either bored of this or maybe start hitting the limits of them. Some of these programs have you squatting 5x5's three times a week, which after a while is exhausting. After that you can begin exploring other styles such as body building which emphasizes physique more than powerlifting or strongman.
What the post above talks about is about taking enough calories and protein for you to be able to build muscle, normal diets very rarely include enough to build muscle optimally and it can be harder to actually eat enough than to lift enough.
I personally have been doing 5/3/1 for a while and it’s been really effective. I ended up making an app [1] and a web calculator [2] for it.
The gateway drug to the HIT tradition, which began with genius Arthur Jones and Nautilus in the early 1970s, is this video presentation by Doug McGuff[1], author of Body by Science[2]. Whether you follow a HIT protocol or not, you should be familiar with the theory covered in Body by Science. Doug covers the definition of fitness and health (which is unusual right there for a fitness book!), the confounding effects of genetics, fat metabolism, and much, much more. The High Intensity Business podcast has all the leading figures in exercise research as guests, with a rich back catalog and very detailed links in the show notes.[3] And if you plan to do this for the rest of your life, give your future joints a break by not destroying them in your youth.[4][5]
[0] https://www.julian.com/guide/muscle/intro
[1] https://youtu.be/2PdJFbjWHEU
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Research-Strength-Traini...
[3] https://highintensitybusiness.com/podcasts/
[4] https://www.amazon.com/Joint-Friendly-Fitness-Optimal-Exerci...
[5] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/billdesimone/the-joint-...
When starting out, 3 times a week full-body workouts are recommended. You'll get the most bang from your buck, take advantage of newbie gains, and push yourself no more than need be to grow. Adaptations due to triggering muscle growth can take up to 36 hours, so full days rest in between workouts.
3 sets per exercise unless otherwise stated. Reps stick to 8 - 10. Once you have been training for a while, you can do reps in the 5 - 8 range, but off-the bat, doing that heavy, form can suffer, ego can kick in, and you'll look the same months down-the-line, and you'll have bad habits that will cause problems down-the-line, if not sooner.
Routine:
Monday
Squats B Press Lat Pulldown Abs Calfs Shoulder side lateral raise Bicep curls 2 sets Tricep pulldown 2 sets
Wednesday
Incline Press Deadlifts Rows (bent over or regular) Shoulder Press Facepulls Abs Calfs
Friday
Squats B Press Lat Pulldown Abs Calfs Shoulder side lateral raise Bicep curls 2 sets Tricep pulldown 2 sets
Rest in between sets: 2 minutes. If you need more, certainly with squats, then 3 minutes is fine. Do the exercises, if all 3 sets are within the rep range, you put on more weight next time. You grow when you rest, ie not when you train. Training is just to damage and trigger the growth. Progressive overload can be any number of things: increase reps, shorter rest time, increase weight. So, increase weight, increase reps with new weight, all 3 sets within rep range, increase weight, etc.
Make sure you sleep properly, 7 hours minimum. Eat properly, protein rich stuff. If problematic, protein shakes are fine. Nattys need to rest properly, and eat properly, and not do way too much volume, which you won't do with the above program.
After 8 weeks, deload week, can be where you don't train at all, or train with light weights. You can grow from any number of reps, provided percentage of muscle used is high enough. Takes longer with low weights, but once in a while a high rep program should be implemented, gives your joints a rest from the wear and tear.
Cheers, Ace.
Darebee, on the other hand, seems to be social media shareables.
I am not related to either website.
This has workout regimes you can follow, which is very important. A combination of both would be best ;)