Resistance Training #7: In Which There Is Self-Doubt

[serinde]

5 min. on the elliptical blah blah.

Lateral raise: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lbs
Modular shoulder press: 2 reps of 10 @ 3lbs
Pullover: 2 reps of 10 @ 3lbs <--- raised this weight
Leg extension: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lbs
Leg Something Else That Does Hamstrings: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lbs
Assisted dip: 2 reps of 10 @ 115lbs
Assisted chin-up: 2 reps of 10 @ 115lbs. I changed to yet a third hand position, whereat it did seem to be using my back more than my arms.
Back To The Old Fly Machine: 2 reps of 10 @ 2lb. Grindingly hard.
Seated Row: 2 reps of 10 @ 25lbs. This was mostly to kill time while waiting for the situp bench.
13 situps on the angle bench, where at the 13th I got a charley horse...in my left hip. I mean, what?! (I have a suspicion this was delayed result from one of the leg machines.) Anyways, I deemed it prudent to stop at that point.

I think I'm doing some of these wrong, because I'm not always feeling it where the helpful colored-in muscle diagram says I should. And I think I may be doing them in an infelicitous order. And I definitely shouldn't be generating charley horses. Anyone recommend a book or a non-bozotic web site on these deep matters?

Comments

[nancaurelia.livejournal.com]

For what it's worth, for me it's all about stretching. We do a lot of that when we warm up for dance classes. If you're getting calf or foot cramps, it might help to do more calf stretches. I also regularly need to stretch the backs and outsides of the thighs and know some good stretches for those. But I have no experience with hip cramps (??) and don't know a good on-line source, since I have access to professionals (including my sister). Yes, I'd be a bit worried that you're not using the machine as intended if you're sore in the wrong places, and haven't been trained on these machines. Is there a way to buy a single session with a trainer somewhere?

[erinfinnegan.livejournal.com]

I also recommend perhaps a single session with a trainer (perhaps a free trial) or a pack of three sessions (available depending on the gym), because people can generally help you out with the machines in ways books and diagrams can't.

If you get an idiot trainer for a free trial (if available) say you want someone else - I got two free sessions at Crunch this way when they followed up with me ("How was your trainer?" "Kind of bad" "OMG, we'll give you another person" etc.)

I often feel muscle groups not on the diagram strain on different machines, but it could be 1. muscles attempting to compensate for other not-strong-enough muscles or 2. lactic acid from previous exercise on the move! (Disclaimer: I am not a doctor!)

Charlie horses shouldn't be happening!

The single thing that greatly improved my weight training was strengthening my abs with 10-minute ab workouts. For many other exercises (like arm work, push-ups, pull-ups, and more) one must hold one's abs in in order to work the correct group. Until I had the ab strength to locate my abs and pull them in I couldn't do push-ups and many machines were weird to use.

Hint: Doing 20 sit-ups a day doesn't really cut it. Nor does a brief cruise on the ab machines. I had to do dedicated ab workouts two to three times a week to feel a real difference. Fortunately, you can do 'em in your pajamas with not much warm-up.

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

This is at the school gym. No trainers, wah.

I am steadily working my way up in situp numbers. When I was in junior high, I was doing 50 a morning before getting dressed, but I don't have that much morning any more. :-/

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

If there aren't trainers, are there students in the final years of studying human movement and physical education looking to earn some money on the side?

Wrt core stuff, I'm less a fan of "ab workout" type stuff (eg. crunches) than core/balance stuff involving free weights. Example: stand on one foot and do bicep curls with a lightish weight (for me, around 10lb). You'll find that it works best if you engage your core to stabilise. Once you know what that feeling of core stabilisation is, you can apply it while doing other exercises, whether on a machine or with free weights.

My usual workouts include things like squats while standing on an upside down bosu ball; cable pulls while standing with semi-bent legs, one leg forward; dumbell chest presses with shoulders resting on a swiss ball and hips held up to horizontal; and lunges while holding a dumbell above my head in one hand. Oh, and the thing called "pacman" which involves taking a large yellow medicine ball (45lb or 60lb), putting it on the floor in front of you, and lifting it to chest height repeatedly. They are all kinda lo-tech but they work all kinds of interesting muscles in natural/real-world kinds of ways.

I know you're looking for weight loss so I'll mention that in the last few months I've lost about 10lb while doing this twice a week, very little other exercise, and eating as many burritos and as much cake as I want and drinking lots of cocktails. While the weight loss per se probably isn't much to write home about, the interesting bit is that I've built a lot of muscle at the same time, so it's a much bigger change in body composition than the 10lb would indicate. (I mostly don't try to focus on my weight, because it fucks with my head to do so, but I mention it because that seems to be where your head is at.)

If you're interested in this stuff and can find some students who might be doing PT work on the side, the magic word to tell them is "functional fitness".

[erinfinnegan.livejournal.com]

> You'll find that it works best if you engage your core to stabilise. Once you
> know what that feeling of core stabilisation is, you can apply it while doing
> other exercises, whether on a machine or with free weights.

In my experience, I couldn't figure out how to stabilize my core and suck in my abs until I had done several ab-only workouts and tried a couple of pilates work-outs and classes.

Now I can suck in my abs while sitting at my desk, or on the subway, but it took practice.

In terms of trainers - Does your gym prohibit trainers or it so happens that no trainers work there? You could always pretend you were joining Crunch or NYSC and get a free personal trainer workout, then cancel. Or buy NYSC's package of three trainer sessions.

Although - the trainer is just to teach you to use the machines. When I used a trainer I gained five pounds because I was eating additional cake which I felt I had "earned". And no, it wasn't 5 pounds of pure muscle.

[erinfinnegan.livejournal.com]

It might be less about the number of sit-ups and more about a length of time spend doing quality ab exercises. I like the QuickFix DVD series, but there are a number of 10-minute ab workouts on youtube, and for $3 on the exercise.tv store. 10-minute pilates abs workouts are kinda weird, but there a lot of them out there (for some reason).

[tactisle.livejournal.com]

Was it your hip as in front-pocket, or back-pocket?

If the latter, then it's probably a delayed cramp from the leg extensions, and I'd recommend a glute stretch between the leg work and the situps. (glute stretch is just like a hamstring stretch, but with a bent knee and a deeper lunge.)

If the former, then you might be using your quads and/or TFLs in the situps instead of your abs. Visualize the situp as pulling your sternum toward your pelvis, not towards your knees; flexing your lower back, not your hips. If that makes any sense.

As far as the order goes, all I've heard is that you should stretch a muscle any time you stop using that muscle. Which to me would say "stretch arms before switching to legs, et cetera."

The Mayo Clinic has a nice page of tutorials and links to do with strength training and core exercise: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/SM00103 (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/fitness/SM00103).
It won't troubleshoot your workout for you, but you'll find pointers toward good body mechanics, stuff like that.

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

Side seam, actually. Almost At Thigh, But Not Quite.

[tactisle.livejournal.com]

Hmph. Could be one of a few things then, but all basically "cramp left over from leg work" category.

So yeah, stretching. :)

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

Also: thx for link!

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

http://stumptuous.com/cms/ is the website of krustukles, queen of free weights. I love her stuff. She advocates free weights for women, not machines. Read her FAQs and stuff and see what you think.