Since I started working out in January I've lost 15 pounds while at the same time gotten stronger. This is great because my goals are to get stronger, get a bigger chest/arms, and lose weight. I'm guessing however that once I finish seeing beginner gains I'm going to be faced with a choice: 1. Eat with a caloric deficit and continue to lose weight but make no more strength gains. 2. Eat enough calories to gain strength but stop losing weight. Is this about right?
Good work. Last time I got close to my goal weight and started cutting hard was the only time I saw strength gains really tail off. My thought is that we are all a little different but I would think your gains will be smaller and take longer if your working with a deficit. Then again there are a lot of people on here that are far more qualified than I am to comment.
I wouldn't think of it in terms of losing weight, but more in terms of overall body fat percentage (building muscle + losing fat). When you're cutting hard, gains will be much slower to come, and you might have to settle for strength maintenance. When you get to that point, you might want to try reducing your training volume to aid recovery. This is a good series of articles. Part 3 talks specifically about how to reduce volume (less sets, not less reps). <a class="postlink" href="http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/fat-loss-for-athletes-part-1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo ... art-1.html</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/fat-loss-for-athletes-part-2.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo ... art-2.html</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/fat-loss-for-athletes-part-3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-lo ... art-3.html</a> Once you get to that point, you might also want to look into "Leangains". It's basically a diet program which involves eating at a small surplus on training days, and a deficit on rest days. Again, slow gains, but the advantage is that you stay lean or get leaner while still putting on muscle. Just found this site - comes off a bit gimmicky, but the guy seems like he knows his shit. <a class="postlink" href="http://rippedbody.jp/english/introduction-english/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://rippedbody.jp/english/introduction-english/</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/23/how-to-calculate-leangains-macros/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://rippedbody.jp/2011/10/23/how-to- ... ns-macros/</a>
I like them because they simulate the powering through portion at the bottom, provided they are done correctly. Geared powerlifters also use them because it simulates the suit stopping you at the bottom. From what I've seen, box squat gains carry over to regular squats extremely well. For example, if you work on banded box squats and such and then bring your max on a box from 200 to 220, that 20 pounds will carry over to your back squat max, so you might go from 250 to 270. That is purely anecdotal though, but that's just what I've noticed.
So the saga of my hip alignment continues, but is improving. Started PT (fully covered by my insurance with no copay, what an epic situation) and I'm actually not in bad shape. Working alot on deep core strength and my hip flexors. The only amendment to my workouts she mentioned was to stop deadlifting till we got everything completely sorted out. Anyone have good suggestions for alternatives? I mean, I know back extensions, but besides that?
Can I ask what everyone's opinion on Romanian deadlifts and similar exercises that involve a straight back and bending at the waist? I had a discussion with some people and a lot of people seem to like them. My beef with them is that the waist is probably one of the weakest and most injury prone spots. Some people might argue that if you have propper technique you should be fine, but as weight increases or you get more tired everyones form slips up a bit here and there and i find that those types of lifts are very unforgiving. Thoughts?
They are very unforgiving but they do serve a purpose... I've got some people whose hamstrings need the extra work, because they've got an imbalance muscularly (easiest way to put it, though perhaps not the most technically correct). We use those lifts to work the posterior chain and really hit that side of their body. That said, if you don't know what you're doing ,I wouldn't recommend that you give them a whirl. It's easy to fuck up.
I'm not really familiar with your situation. What's the reasoning behind not deadlifting? That's a pretty vague/general statement, not quite sure what you mean. I tend to think that if you're low-bar squatting (or high-bar ATG) with heavy weights, your posterior chain is getting a lot of work already, and any muscular imbalances will work themselves out. I haven't personally seen the need to supplement that with RDLs, but that's just me.
I think, correct me if I'm wrong rbz, he's referring to L4-L5 or L5-S1 and its relative frequency of disc herniation.
I'm trying to find some ways to strengthen my hip flexors. As far as I can tell, it's what's holding back a lot of my squat work right now. Has anyone had success with any of these drills, before I proceed to try each and every last one of them? All of my other lifts (including deadlifts, to some degree) are fine, but squats give me trouble when I begin coming out of the bottom of the lift. I try to squat as deep as possible, and it tends to give me trouble at any significant weight (which I won't disclose for now because it's embarrassingly low). I feel like it comes from very weak hip flexors, which leads to an inability to generate power from that position.
Basically my hips are out of alignment and its gotten to the point where my right leg feels longer than the left. I think its been going on for a bit without me noticing it as my right glute is more defined/stronger than my left. So I went in, basically got told I have some muscle imbalance issues. My left side of my back is more engaged than my right and opposite in my hips. Not sure why she said no deadlifts, but it was the only exercise she said no to. Maybe because of the aforementioned back imbalance issues.
Maybe you should get your legs measured. If one of your legs is actually physically longer than the other, or if you've got pelvic tilt issues, you might have to adjust your stance in the lift, stick a shim in your shoe, etc. If that's not the case, then doing the exercise (with good form, weights you can handle, etc) should strengthen the back muscles and even out imbalances. Just reading through the "Mark Rippetoe Q&A" section of the Starting Strength forums, a lot of PTs don't really seem to have the first clue about strength training and what should be or should not be contraindicated. You might try posting the details over there and hear from the guy who wrote the book on this stuff (lifting biomechanics especially). edit: Forgot to mention you should definitely wear a belt. Yeah. <a class="postlink" href="http://70sbig.com/blog/2010/04/more-reasons-for-wearing-a-belt/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://70sbig.com/blog/2010/04/more-rea ... ng-a-belt/</a> Well, you know, use good form, maintain neutral spine, etc. If you can't do that, lower the weight or don't do the exercise. I think RDLs are a good exercise, but they don't strike me as vital.
I think she's dumbing down SI joint misalignment to you and calling it "hip misalignment". That notoriously results in perceived leg length discrepancies. If your SIJ isn't stable/aligned you may be more prone to an injury, so it sounds like she wants you to hold off on DLs until your alignment issue is gone just to be cautious. She probably only mentioned DLs because they create a pretty long external moment arm (longer than a squat, etc), resulting in larger compression/shearing forces (and greater risk of injury if your stability is compromised).
Also re: muscle imbalances and the like. <a class="postlink" href="http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=31359" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://startingstrength.com/resources/f ... hp?t=31359</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=26434&p=322794#post322794" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://startingstrength.com/resources/f ... post322794</a> <a class="postlink" href="http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=9556&highlight=sacroiliac" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://startingstrength.com/resources/f ... sacroiliac</a> #1 thing I'd do is go get measured and find out if it's a bony asymmetry or not.
See: differential diagnosis. I can almost guarantee you that his PT did a test and/or measure to rule that out in his initial eval. Unless she's completely incompetent.
Both my normal doc and sports medicine doc ruled out leg length, but yeah, she measured during my initial evaluation and I was normal, equal length in each. What TX said was more or less spot on. I've been calling it hip misalignment, but its more in my ligaments from what she said We worked specifically on my gluteus medius and minimus, and some ligamental work as well. The deadlift avoidance seems to be precautionary as y'all mentioned.
Yeah, that's what I meant I lift mostly as a way to supplement my other sports training and I'm not as informed as a lot of you, I appologise. That being said instead of a lot of deadlifts I like to substitute Snatch and Clean & Jerk or Power Cleans. This I'll admit is at the advice of my father who used to be a pretty good olympic weightlifter back in the day.
I'm guessing though that if he's doing snatches and clean & jerks he's going with less weight than if he was just deadlifting.