Hey team! So I've been doing Insanity, after every workout, they try to hype you on the post workout drinks and such. Instead of paying for all that, and since I don't have a blender for shakes, etc, I drink V8 (regular tomato) juice. Is this effective as a recovery drink, or is water the best way to go? Thanks.
Are you sweating massive amounts after each workout or something? Pure water is usually a bad option, since you have lost a lot of other nutrients through sweat, especially salt. I find that something like Gatorade works just fine, and if necessary, add a tiny bit of extra salt to your meals for the next few days.
My favorite post-workout drink is chocolate milk. Have never gone wrong drinking choco milk after strenuous training.
Does anyone have recommendations for pulling exercises? I'm looking for something that pulls back, like cable rows (which I already do), as opposed to down, like pull-ups or lat pulls. Is one rowing exercise a week sufficient? There's one exercise I've seen done but never tried, which involves one dumbbell and bracing one's knee on a bench, exercising one arm at a time, but I can't remember what they're called. It's got the same motion one would use to start a lawn mower, which is perfect because that's the sport-specific motion I'm trying to imitate.
Pretty sure bent over rows are exactly what you're looking for. They're similar to those single arm rows you mentioned, but with a full bar/ more weight. Deadlifts too. Although those aren't quite the same pulling motion, still supa good for that area, do 'em if you ain't.
You're talking about bent over db rows, which are excellent. You can also do a variation where you hold your elbow out which is great for the upper back and rear delts. You could also do bent over rows with the barbell, although be very aware of keeping your core straight and not use momentum to raise the weight. You might also want to look up pendlay rows, that's a personal favorite of mine, and Ssycko is right, Deads are a great pull, as are band/cable pull throughs.
Bent over DB rows Bent over barbell rows (I would do Pendlay rows over Yates rows) If you're doing a push/pull, you might also consider including power cleans on pull day for your traps and general explosiveness. (this without the front squat) Definitely do deadlifts on pull day. A routine without deadlifts makes me sad. ExRx is fantastic for looking up exercises, instruction, etc. <a class="postlink" href="http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html</a>
I'm on a FOB and with my connection, trying to review the entire thread will take most of the year so I apologize as I'm sure this has already been asked. I'm looking for opinions of workout supplements. Other than knowing the basics of what whey protein and creatine are I'm swamped. I'm 35, 5'9 and 180lbs, wouldn't mind dropping 10-15lbs, but if I converted it to muscle all the better; however I'm not looking to add a significant amount of muscle mass. Primarily, most of my workouts are endurance related; i.e; run, cycle, row. etc. I am always interested in hearing workout suggestions, anything to keep it interesting. Just remember, I'm on a FOB with a limited gym. I can get creative, but only to a point. thanks in advance, AFHokie
So I've been having a lot of trouble with my front hip adductors while squatting. They're the ones that start in the middle of the thigh at the hip and then curve down towards the inside. They are almost always incredibly tender after squatting, I feel as if I take a wrong step I might pull them. During squatting, as long as I'm doing it right and make sure I'm pushing up with my ass muscles I don't feel them, it's just afterwards. Taking time off doesn't do much either, I was just out of the gym for ~3 weeks and it went right back to that tenderness. Are there any additional exercises I should throw in that can target and strength these, so that I can squat without fear of pulling them?
I don't do any static stretching before squatting, and I haven't been stretching them specifically, because I'm not sure if they're tight or loose. I stretched the one that was bothering me afterwards the last time I squatted, and that seems to have helped, so maybe they are tight? I don't have a foam roll. Nothing else really makes it feel the same, but after squatting whenever I would try to bring my leg up and forward I would feel them in a not comfortable way. I already do normal style deadlifts regularly, and those don't bother it in any way. Is there anything besides just more deadlifts?
Huh, I don't know why it's giving a playlist. In any case, this is the video I wanted to show for hip mobility.
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-17730428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-st ... e-17730428</a> Pretty incredible story, worth reading. About the man who set an unbeatable cycling record.
Well, yet another terrible day of squatting. This is getting ridiculous, I bench more than I squat and every time I come up I feel like I'm about to destroy my right adductor. Fuck. Does anybody know of any good physical therapist/ personal trainers in the NYC area? I've done everything the internet has suggested and nothing is helping, so I should probably see somebody in person to see if this can be figured out and I can stop squatting weights that would look light on 16 year old girls.
Deadlifted for the first time yesterday and my back is sore as fuck. Shit, even my shoulders are sore from it. In fact pretty much every muscle involved in deadlifting except for my legs are sore. Definitely need to work on strengthing my back though since it's going to be the limiter on how much I can deadlift, and probably squat as well.
Is there a way you could film your squats? It could be a form issue. Also, do you squat in front of a mirror? If you do, try to get away from that. Get used to it being a quick set up and listen to your body as it's trying to get in position. It should always be set-up, lift bar, step back/step back, then squat. I think I posted this before, but a re-post couldn't hurt. It's the first of 5 videos. It's got a lot of good tips.
I finally figured out how to do the lat spread pose with double biceps. Suddenly I feel much better about my lats.
Those videos are pretty awesome. I have a question related to them. I never had really heard of the leg dominant issue before, though I'm always pretty vigilant about getting the bar evenly positioned on my shoulders. But I have noticed in the past, walking home from the gym or whatever, I'll be more sore on the right side, especially my glutes. But this isn't reserved for squats, I'll feel the same unbalanced tightness in my lower back after deads. Is this indicative of something or just a natural body quirk? I mean, it hasn't hindered me as I've made significant gains in both, but it made me curious. Also, related and I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but when I squat, my right knee does a rotation as I lift up. Like its steady and then all of a sudden makes like a 3/4 circular motion. I have no history of knee problems and I've never hurt that knee, its just weird.
I am in the second to last week of Mike's Beginner Program. I will get through my last heavy week next week and then take a week off. After that I don't know if I want to run through it again or try something different. I still have a long way to go to get back to where I used to be (my heavy week right now is a 160 lb bench and that used to be 225 3 years ago). So I would like to stay focused on classic "core" lifts like improving my bench, overhead press, squat, deadlift, and rows/pull-ups. Are there some other good programs out there that I could try? Should I just run through the MBP again? Thanks in advance.