Fitness Catch-All

LastSurprise wrote:

Wow, 4040 sounds like a lot. And looking at your spreadsheet: yup, it's a lot. Good luck!

This week, I went back to the gym for the first time in what feels like forever (but is actually about 6 months). I've also tried to get myself more active by making a commitment to walking 2 miles every day. This got a little bit easier after I realized that I can accomplish this by walking to the metro instead of taking a bus to get there, and I can walk fast enough so this doesn't add a ton of time to my overall commute. It feels really good to be exercising again.

Nice! As you do it more and more it will soon become a habit and you'll be disappointed on the days you can't walk to the metro. I bike to work (6 miles round trip so it's fairly short). Unfortunately, I have to take the kids to school right now so not biking to work much. Last summer I only missed a few days. Biking/walking to work is a great way to start your day!

I never even knew what an acromion was until this week when mine were really tender.

I've been doing some "top 15cm" squat moves with really heavy weights as part of a power build up. With 230kg on the bar my usual high bar technique means a lot of heavy metal is squashing down on some bones out in the corners that my traps will never cover.

There has been gritted teeth and swearing.

PT has really helped me get my grip strength recovering well after the broken finger incident. Starting to be able to pull numbers close to what I was prior to injury.

Heretk wrote:

So ... rowing. I bought a Sunny Health entry level rowing machine just to see if it is something I would stick with as a low-impact cardio supplement to my kettlebell routine. It has proven to be a great supplement to the home gym.

So now I am eyeing the

Double post since the edit button is not working. I am eyeing the Concept2 rower now. It's expensive but seems to be well regarded as a top pick. Has anyone had experience with this rower? Or is there another mid-range rower that would work well?

Heretk wrote:

Double post since the edit button is not working. I am eyeing the Concept2 rower now. It's expensive but seems to be well regarded as a top pick. Has anyone had experience with this rower? Or is there another mid-range rower that would work well?

Concept 2's are the workhorses of many a commercial gym. I've used plenty of them over the years, and while I'm not a connoisseur, they've always seemed solid to me.

Heretk wrote:
Heretk wrote:

So ... rowing. I bought a Sunny Health entry level rowing machine just to see if it is something I would stick with as a low-impact cardio supplement to my kettlebell routine. It has proven to be a great supplement to the home gym.

So now I am eyeing the

Double post since the edit button is not working. I am eyeing the Concept2 rower now. It's expensive but seems to be well regarded as a top pick. Has anyone had experience with this rower? Or is there another mid-range rower that would work well?

I owned a Concept2 Model D for a couple of years when I was rowing seriously (and for two years after I stopped but was in denial about stopping). It's the gold standard for real rowing and what we all use for testing and comparing times. They hold their value if you look after them, you can expect to sell yours second hand for about £200 less than you bought it, if there is a rowing community around.

The bad point is that it is huge in terms of foot print and you need there to allow an extra meter in the length to account for some back lean at the finish. You can stand it up when not in use but it's imposing.

If you have the room, I recomment getting a pair of sliders to put it on as, you won't be hitting the front as hard and you can reduce the load on your lower back. If you never rowed crew and have no access to a coach, I'd be very careful with it initially as they are easy to use badly and lead to some nasty back problems.

I guess my question is more what do you want it for? If you are interested in doing rowing, or indoor rowing in a competition, then the C2 Model D is the only choice. I think it's the model used by Cross Fit competitions too (but I'm not in that world). If you're looking for a cardio machine for long low impact work, I'd possible look at some the water rowers but I can't speak to their quality. I found the water rower I used very odd, it didn't feel like the C2 or like being in a boat.

DoveBrown wrote:
Heretk wrote:
Heretk wrote:

So ... rowing. I bought a Sunny Health entry level rowing machine just to see if it is something I would stick with as a low-impact cardio supplement to my kettlebell routine. It has proven to be a great supplement to the home gym.

So now I am eyeing the

Double post since the edit button is not working. I am eyeing the Concept2 rower now. It's expensive but seems to be well regarded as a top pick. Has anyone had experience with this rower? Or is there another mid-range rower that would work well?

I owned a Concept2 Model D for a couple of years when I was rowing seriously (and for two years after I stopped but was in denial about stopping). It's the gold standard for real rowing and what we all use for testing and comparing times. They hold their value if you look after them, you can expect to sell yours second hand for about £200 less than you bought it, if there is a rowing community around.

The bad point is that it is huge in terms of foot print and you need there to allow an extra meter in the length to account for some back lean at the finish. You can stand it up when not in use but it's imposing.

If you have the room, I recomment getting a pair of sliders to put it on as, you won't be hitting the front as hard and you can reduce the load on your lower back. If you never rowed crew and have no access to a coach, I'd be very careful with it initially as they are easy to use badly and lead to some nasty back problems.

I guess my question is more what do you want it for? If you are interested in doing rowing, or indoor rowing in a competition, then the C2 Model D is the only choice. I think it's the model used by Cross Fit competitions too (but I'm not in that world). If you're looking for a cardio machine for long low impact work, I'd possible look at some the water rowers but I can't speak to their quality. I found the water rower I used very odd, it didn't feel like the C2 or like being in a boat.

Thanks for the quick replies. My goal is fitness only, nothing competitive. I have been debating on going with a rower or a spin bike for low impact cardio. I am leaning towards a rower as it targets the whole body.

What do you mean by sliders?

I'd never heard of them either - looks bonkers.

Military gyms seem to use Concept 2 rowing machines exclusively. All of the rowing machines at my base gym are varying vintages of that type. The rowing machine is slated to become an option for the cardio portion of the PRT, which I'm pretty happy about. I like rowing for the low impact, although I'd agree that ensuring proper form is pretty critical.

Those sliders though... They look pretty interesting. Not sure that I really understand the benefit other than having the machine slide while the user remains relatively in place. I can see how it might reduce the load on the lower back, but I wonder if it changes anything regarding the energy needed to row. Looks like fun though.

Sliders do require less energy for the same split, you should be pacing your cardio off your heart rate. Supposedly when people measure their wattage at the same heart rate on a stationary bike and a static C2, the C2 measures 15watts less. Once you put the C2 on sliders they get the same measured wattage on both.

The main health benefit of the sliders is there is less energy being spent coming up the slide so you end up with far less initial force at the catch as your body weight doesn’t have to change momentum so much. Also it’s easier to avoid having your momentum take you past the shins going vertical which reduces the strain on your knees.

The other benefit is the feedback, if you aren’t smooth and continuous around the catch and finish then you will bang the ends of the sliders and your rhythm will be a mess. This is especially helpful when you are on your own as people generally aren’t aware when they pause, on sliders it’s obvious.

Complete aside, linking a couple of ergs together on sliders (once got a full four set up) and it was awesome to teach people how they need to synch their rhythm and learn to feel what others are doing.

Anybody get one of those premium kettlebell from Kettlebell Kings?

JohnKillo wrote:

Anybody get one of those premium kettlebell from Kettlebell Kings?

No but I hear the vendor name a lot. Usually nice things. Diamond pro is my seller of choice. They usually have the best price to value ratio for powder coat bells.

So my last bastion of gym workouts was at my hospital. They closed and now cant do it on the lunch break. So going to go back to early in the morning.

Never thought I’d say this, but I miss going to the gym

I was very close to pulling the trigger on upgrading my janky garage gym but held off because of 'buy once cry once" thinking.

And then all the providers got slammed and some aren't even talking orders right now because they have weeks of backlog to get out the door.

Just think about all the CrossFit people with disposable income who inundated suppliers with kettlebell, squat stand and rings orders.

I'm going to keep refreshing Rogue to just go ahead and buy a squat stand as soon as they stock back up. This whole thing has me thinking I don't really have to have a gym membership. Maybe I don't go back until there's a vaccine?

My gym allowed renting of weights and kbs before the stay at home kicked in for the duration of the stay at home order.

Ended up renting a 16kg kb and I've been doing the simple and sinister routine on a 3 or 4 day on, 1 day off schedule.

Honestly feels so much fun and I can cram a workout in pretty fast compared to a 5x5 routine.
I might be convinced to go kb once this is all over, which makes working out in an apartment vs a gym actually possible. Definitely eyeing a 16, 18 and 20kg order from kettle bell kings or something.

I bought one of those about a month ago - it is great. The perfect weight.

Really ridiculously friendly price from the gym, it cost me 15 bucks to rent for the duration (which ya know could be a while!).

I’d love to know your kB routines. I have some and am struggling to get something I am happy with—or at least hate in the right way.

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

I’d love to know your kB routines. I have some and am struggling to get something I am happy with—or at least hate in the right way.

Someone many pages hence posted this....

Simple and sinister. Great program with arguably the only two kb movements you will ever need - swings and getups. My plan is to get to 32kg one handed swings and getups to the point where I can hammer out 4 sessions a week without taxing recovery too much and then branch out to some double bell programs.

In the year or so I have been kb only they have paid for themselves with savings from no commute or gym membership.

Just like eyeing a 16/20/24 competition set from kettlebellkings like a normal person.

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

I’d love to know your kB routines. I have some and am struggling to get something I am happy with—or at least hate in the right way.

Simple and Sinister. Recommend the book. The language is very "machismo". Also I particularly like Coach Mandler on YouTube for routines.

Fit people. Recommend me your favorite stretches. I have terrible hip flexibility and want to be normal.

JohnKillo wrote:
UpToIsomorphism wrote:

I’d love to know your kB routines. I have some and am struggling to get something I am happy with—or at least hate in the right way.

Simple and Sinister. Recommend the book. The language is very "machismo". Also I particularly like Coach Mandler on YouTube for routines.

Fit people. Recommend me your favorite stretches. I have terrible hip flexibility and want to be normal.

I recently discovered the 90/90 stretch and a move called The Greatest Stretch In the World. Both leave me feelin pretty great. You can find a lot of good examples on YouTube.

Cossack squats are pretty good, but it depends the hip is a joint with a lot of range of motion.

In addition to stretching, get a lacrosse ball or some sort of facia release ball (I like TPTherapy) and hit your hip flexors. If you've got real tender spots just let the ball sink in and gentle wiggle, you're not trying to roll it around a lot. Also hit your glutes, but the lacrosse ball size can be a little small and intense.

I had similar issues and this really helped. A note, it can take a couple of minutes the first time to get the tight spots out. Resist the urge to get off the spot. Subsequent times it will release a lot faster.

These are the two I use

Larger size (glutes, hamstrings, calf)
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...

Smaller size (hip flexor, back, shoulders)
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...

JohnKillo wrote:
UpToIsomorphism wrote:

I’d love to know your kB routines. I have some and am struggling to get something I am happy with—or at least hate in the right way.

Simple and Sinister. Recommend the book. The language is very "machismo". Also I particularly like Coach Mandler on YouTube for routines.

Fit people. Recommend me your favorite stretches. I have terrible hip flexibility and want to be normal.

Snake stretch, supine stretch and child's pose

This was a ton of fun and I can see myself doing this at least for a few more weeks:

You can get the PDF here

Tempest wrote:

This was a ton of fun and I can see myself doing this at least for a few more weeks:

You can get the PDF here

Did this but with the full deck, minus adding the 10 reps per card and doing one type of movement per card. It was awful and also perfect for a home workout. It really does help change things up quite a bit and the oh-crap-what's-next-my-body-is-already-dead feeling is fun in it's own right.

Tempest wrote:

This was a ton of fun and I can see myself doing this at least for a few more weeks:

You can get the PDF here

Awesome link! Appreciate how it calls out how you can adjust difficulty for so ma y exercises like holding at the bottom of a push up, etc.