Critique My Home Workout Please!

[Cyrrex]

Unfortunately, you cannot target fat burn - despite what the marketers claim.  The body will do what it wants with the fat.  Only thing you can do is work on your overall body fat percentage.  Get that down and that area between the ribs and hips will ultimately go down as well.

I have a similar problem, in that in order for me to get that middle section down to where I want it to be, I have to lose more body fat than I really want to...and it starts to have a negative impact on my overall appearance.  I am going to try and combat this by just putting on more muscle overall and see if that helps.

[Sky]

I wish I could put in a pool, I've got the room on my double lot for a nice sized one. Hard to justify for two months a year, though. So the plan is for a heated indoor pool  In 2040 when I can afford it. Too bad I'll be 70.

Can't get the fiancee motivated to get out hiking this year, it's really bumming me out, she just wants to take naps all the time. So I'll probably have to start working out to burn some calories, goddammit. I hate working out, I'd rather burn calories naturally, hiking or climbing or building something.

[Nebu]

Unfortunately, you cannot target fat burn - despite what the marketers claim.  The body will do what it wants with the fat.  Only thing you can do is work on your overall body fat percentage.  Get that down and that area between the ribs and hips will ultimately go down as well.

Again, excellent point.  Each person stores their fat differently according to their genetics.  The key to losing belly fat is to lower your total fat % as Cyrrex points out.  That or liposuction!

Another myth that you see in the media is that you can target the loss of fat only.  When cutting fat you will also cannibalize muscle.  The goal is to maximize fat losses while minimizing muscle losses.  At best, you can limit muscle loss to about 20%. 

[stray]

I could be full of shit, but doesn't getting fat at all develop fat cells where they used to not be? Err, hope that's understood. I just woke up.  I mean, I got overweight once, but I think it takes more effort now to get a flatter stomach. I fluctuate around 12 %, and I have a barely visible "2 pack" at best. I think my body weight/fat stores were distributed differently when I was younger, and that there might have been more definition at the same fat percentage. Or maybe this is the full outcome of my genetics too.

[Salamok]

Well I definately did some damage to my body:

Step 1 - Dropped a ton of weight (probably more than is healthy)
Step 2 - EQ coma for 3-4 years and lost all muscle tone.
Step 3 - End of the EQ coma invested heavily BBQ, Beer.
Step 4 - Quit smoking and started eating 1200 cal lunches in addition to a heavy dinner and constant snacking.
Setp 5 - Messed my feet up pretty bad (plantar fasciitis) probably due to the excess 70 lbs I was carrying around.

Before all of that I used to be pretty fit, now as I approach 40 I have decided that it might be fun to not walk around like a 65 year old crippled fat man.

[Cyrrex]

I could be full of shit, but doesn't getting fat at all develop fat cells where they used to not be? Err, hope that's understood. I just woke up.  I mean, I got overweight once, but I think it takes more effort now to get a flatter stomach. I fluctuate around 12 %, and I have a barely visible "2 pack" at best. I think my body weight/fat stores were distributed differently when I was younger, and that there might have been more definition at the same fat percentage. Or maybe this is the full outcome of my genetics too.

I may be wrong, but I seem to recall reading that the number of fat cells your body develops is largely determined by during the time of your great growth spurts in your teenage years, which is one reason that some people have lifelong battles with this sort of thing, while others can simply put in on and melt it right back off.  Genetics has some part to play in this, but your behavior also appears to determine this to a large degree.  All those obese kids you see running around are in for a struggle for all their lives, as they are simply building more fat cells than the rest of us.  As you get fatter, those cells are simply expanding as the deposits are stored.  Burning the fat simply eats into those deposits stored in the existing cells.

I'll bet Nebu can confirm or deny.

As to the rest of it, the body surely changes with time.  No doubt about that one.  I used to have smaller love handles at a higher BF percentages (not that they're huge now, but they're certainly still there).

[Slayerik]

I'm going to have to figure something out for squats, cause these Front squads keep tweaking my shoulder. It's awkward trying to support all that weight and it is not working for me. Should I deadlift as a substitute? Im not getting a gym membership, so I have to deal with what I got.

Overall I like the 5 x 5 routine. I choose to do isolation afterwards, like shrugs or curls after my main workout. I feel I'm missing some of the iso stuff I was doing before, I guess it's just up to me how hard I want to workout.

[K9]

If you don't have a power rack I would be inclined to leave the squats for safety's sake. Deadlifts are probably your best and safest alternative.

[stray]

You can always get a leverage bench as well.

[Cyrrex]

If you don't have a power rack I would be inclined to leave the squats for safety's sake. Deadlifts are probably your best and safest alternative.

I agree.  Squats make me nervous even with the rack.  Do the deads instead, but try to make sure you use as much leg as possible (there is a tendency to cheat with your lower back more than you should).  You will not get the same workout as you do with the squats, but the chance of injury is far less.

Another thing about the deads is that your grip strength will largely determine how much weight you can manage.  I found that I could deadlift about the same as I could squat in the beginning, but that went up dramatically as my grip got better.  In other words, don't be afraid to attempt large leaps after a couple weeks.

[Nebu]

I'll bet Nebu can confirm or deny.

I hate to admit it, but I'm not sure.  I've done some reading about cell size and brown fat cells, but I really don't have a definitive answer.  This is something I need to do some more reading on and get back to you all. 

[Signe]

Critique:

[stray]

Looks like he's getting a workout on his eyebrows too.

[MrHat]

Looks like he's getting a workout on his eyebrows too.

It's a compound lift.

[Signe]

I'm just not entirely sure exactly what bits he's exercising. 

[Cyrrex]

I hope that isn't a real exercise.  People are amazingly stupid and lazy.

[Teleku]

I've seen it used at the gym.  Its actually not a bad exercise, though I've seen it mainly used for women.  Sitting on the ball works your abdomen as you need to keep clenching your muscles for balance, while the lifting motion works your calves pretty effectively.  So it works several muscles at the same time, and isn't a bad exercise to do a lot of reps with.

When you use a machine that lets you put even more weight on, instead of just using free weights, its actually a pretty damn hard exercise.  Works my calves better than anything else I've found (though again this is on a machine where I can stack weights, instead of sitting on the ball, so its not targeting the abdomen either).

[Cyrrex]

I don't doubt that machine weights can be good for calf building, that wasn't the point.  Sitting on a stupid ball simply cannot be the most effective way to exercise either the calves or the abdomen (I doubt it is doing anything significant for the abdomen).  Simply standing up and doing calf lifts with your own body weight would likely be better for calves.  Doing crunches is obviously better for your abs.

People invent shit like this because it's easier.  The reason it is easier is because it isn't really working your muscles.  Women are always falling prey to that sort of crap.

[K9]

I sometimes use the balls for doing crunches, with my feet hooked under something static and my legs over the ball. For most other things they just seem gimmicky and slightly unsafe.

On the other hand, the domes are pretty nifty in my opinion. Doing any exercise on those has an added level of challenge and benefit.

[Teleku]

Yeah, I never really use the ball/domes, but I will say doing crunches on either of them has an effect.  Trying to maintain your balance while doing crunchs on top of the big rubber ball beats the hell out of my abs when I try it.

[DraconianOne]

I wonder how well the 5x5 philosophy would carry over to other forms of exercise like running or swimming, I suspect the cardio aspect restricts it from working as well there. 

It's not wholly dissimilar to doing interval training really. Rather than jogging, do really intense sprints to build power and strength. It's not an amazing correlation though, since exercises such as running or swimming tend to de-emphasise power in favour of endurance in contrast to weight training which generally emphasizes power over endurance.

The 5 x 5 philosophy could work very well with running, particularly, as Stray indicated, with sprinting. The same theory can be applied to longer distance training too but probably more in the form of fartlek training (so run at 50% max speed for a minute, 60% max speed for a minute, 70% max, 80% max, 90% max and repeat 5 times during a run).

Max speed, in this case, is what you make it. You're unlikely to be aiming to do a max 10m/s if you're training for a marathon but you will have a target race speed.

I don't doubt that machine weights can be good for calf building, that wasn't the point.  Sitting on a stupid ball simply cannot be the most effective way to exercise either the calves or the abdomen (I doubt it is doing anything significant for the abdomen).  Simply standing up and doing calf lifts with your own body weight would likely be better for calves.  Doing crunches is obviously better for your abs.

People invent shit like this because it's easier.  The reason it is easier is because it isn't really working your muscles.  Women are always falling prey to that sort of crap.

You should learn more about why the "stupid ball" is so commonly used before slating it.  Just sitting on a ball isn't going to work out your abdominals but doing crunches on a ball can work your abs harder than just doing them prone.  This is because your body is having to work to stabilize itself while doing the other exercises so your obliques get worked as do your extensors.  Doing exercises like jacknifes or inverse-Vs (may be known as something else) are also fucking murder on your abs as well as working other parts of your body at the same time.  There are plenty of sports injury professionals and sports coaches who recommend their use and they're pretty damned good both for rehabilitation and conditioning as well as strength building.

[Nightshade]

Apparently no one has heard of a seated-calf-raise?   That's exactly what that exercise is, and it does usually work the most neglected muscle group of the body.

Anyhow, I think I mentioned this before, if your having any specific issues, I'm currently a certified personal trainer, and I invest quite a bit of time into consistent research on the subject, as well a practicing as a fitness coach at a local Crossfit gym. 

If you had any specific questions, I could most certainly take a stab at them.

[K9]

Unless you have fairly weak calves, how could you ever meet the same load on a seated calf raise as a standing calf raise? Doing them standing I can comfortably do calf raises with ~90kg or more. Sitting with a pair of 40 kilo dumbbells in your lap just seems awkward and uncomfortable.

[Nebu]

Unless you have fairly weak calves, how could you ever meet the same load on a seated calf raise as a standing calf raise? Doing them standing I can comfortably do calf raises with ~90kg or more. Sitting with a pair of 40 kilo dumbbells in your lap just seems awkward and uncomfortable.

There are machines in the gym I use that replicate this and I find it to be very effective at isolating the gastrocnemius.  I can do standing calf raises with a ton of weight, but 1 plate a side (90 total pounds) will kill me after 20 reps on a seated machine.  You should try it before you knock it. 

[Teleku]

Unless you have fairly weak calves, how could you ever meet the same load on a seated calf raise as a standing calf raise? Doing them standing I can comfortably do calf raises with ~90kg or more. Sitting with a pair of 40 kilo dumbbells in your lap just seems awkward and uncomfortable.

There are machines in the gym I use that replicate this and I find it to be very effective at isolating the gastrocnemius.  I can do standing calf raises with a ton of weight, but 1 plate a side (90 total pounds) will kill me after 20 reps on a seated machine.  You should try it before you knock it. 

Yeah, exactly.  I do seated calf raises because its so much harder, and I can definitely feel it after I work out.  I can do a crap ton of weight on standing calf raises and not really feel like I accomplished much afterwards.

[K9]

Unless you have fairly weak calves, how could you ever meet the same load on a seated calf raise as a standing calf raise? Doing them standing I can comfortably do calf raises with ~90kg or more. Sitting with a pair of 40 kilo dumbbells in your lap just seems awkward and uncomfortable.

There are machines in the gym I use that replicate this and I find it to be very effective at isolating the gastrocnemius.  I can do standing calf raises with a ton of weight, but 1 plate a side (90 total pounds) will kill me after 20 reps on a seated machine.  You should try it before you knock it. 

I'm not sure we have a machine that does that at my gym, or are you adapting a seated leg press? We have one that lets you press yourself up an incline, but we don't have one that lets you press a weight away from yourself sadly.

Either way, point noted, I'll give these a go tomorrow when I do my legs.

[Nebu]

There is a specific machine for seated calf raises that uses plates.  It has a pad that goes over the tops of your thighs while seated.  The thing is a beast, but it hurts so good.

[K9]

Do you reckon you could adapt the load to a gym-ball though?

I guess I could stack 25kg plates across my lap while seated. I'm going to get some funny looks though

[Nightshade]

I guess it depends what your after, the stability ball is a good tool, but I question the effectiveness of the exercise, I tend to use stability balls for a variety of exercises, but calf raises aren't one of them.

I think you might be a little confused on the calf exercises in general, if you are looking to strengthen the calf muscles there are two parts to muscle, the soleus and gastrocemius, the seated calf raise works the soleus, where as the standing calf raise works the gastrocemius. 

To be honest, the only reason I question the stability ball with the exercise because the calf muscle is usually worked in a very short ROM already, and due to the fact you are you are unstable of a stability ball, I doubt you'd be able to press the same amount through a full ROM.... I'd rather stand up on stable surface that has an edge, and work the calf muscle through a further range of motion, but that's just my 2 cents.

Unfortunately the fitness industry is convoluted with fancy exercises - but one piece of advice I could give you is just keep it simple, and follow the use/loose it principle, if you aren't finding its working for you, loose it, if its working for you keep it.   Good luck!

[K9]

Does anyone have any views on skipping as either a warm up, or exercise in it's own right?

[Cyrrex]

Wait...skipping as in Skip To My Loo?  Like with bubble gum and pony tails?

[Nebu]

Does anyone have any views on skipping as either a warm up, or exercise in it's own right?

On leg days, I warmup my quads by doing high knee raises and low weight dumbell lunges.  For calves, I'll jump rope for a few minutes to get the heartrate up. 

[Nightshade]

Does anyone have any views on skipping as either a warm up, or exercise in it's own right?

It could be both, pending on what style of skipping your doing and how vigorous you are turning.

See this article for more information and an informative video:  http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/jumprope2.htm

I tend to prefer using speed ropes as mentioned due to the fact the weighted ropes will never turn as fast.