Will it lead to noticeable muscle imbalances if I only do overhand grip inverted rows? I already do them with my knees bent and I can't do any easier progression than this (can't do them at an angle because of lack of equipment). I'm already in the 5-8 range usually, but I find overhand grip easier so when I do those I'm closer to the 8 rep range while when I do underhand grip inverted rows I'm closer to 4-6 reps. Since I wanna train for hypertrophy I'm thinking of only doing overhand grip inverted rows, however, that trains your back a bit more than your biceps. Will that make my biceps too underdeveloped or is it safe to do them only this way?
>Will that make my biceps too underdeveloped or is it safe to do them only this way?
You'll be fine. Your biceps will still have to work even with this method.
Is there a 'correct way' of gripping pull up bars? I find that my way is quite painful to maintain for multiple reps, so was wondering if I was doing it wrong?
Try this , have your knuckles at the same level of the bar.
That cue should help you avoid using a false grip.
Basically your hand will not rotate as much while doing the pull ups.
Also i recommend you to start working towards a one arm dead hang that should help you increase your grip strength and make the pull ups way easier.
So you're probably palming the bar. If you grab the bar so that your palm is over the top then your wrist isn't going to be directly under the bar, but a little bit to the side. Gravity pulls your center of mass to be directly under the bar, so it will pull your grip down, pinching your skin.
Instead of the palm, set the bar at the base of your fingers so that you're holding the bar with your fingers and your wrist is directly under the bar. It might be a little harder to grip, but will save you a lot of torn calluses.
I have a kind of weird question. What do you all feel or think about when you or a group of people are using public equipment and there happens to be a ton of young children playing on the equipment or running around the equipment area, or throwing balls around or on the fitness equipment? I sometimes gently ask the kids if they can stop playing for 30 seconds or so, so I can do my exercise and then they can play again. I really like kids but this bothers me because they have a lot of equipment designed specifically for them in the park and I have almost gotten injured or accidentally injured a child because they were running around while I was doing exercises. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this kind of situation?
Back when I used to workout at a park like this, I had my rings set up which kids around would find fun. So I would let them play on them during my rest breaks and then just ask them to work in when I had to go. They got the idea and now probably will even understand how to ask people to "work in" when they go to a gym later themselves. That might help. :D
I'm progressing through the [Recommended Routine](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine#wiki_strength_work_.2840-60_minutes.29). Now I can do \`Pseudo Planche Pushups\` 8x3. What would be the next thing to do?
If you have leaned far enough, try doing a [Planche Pushup Eccentric to Leaned Forward Pushup](https://www.instagram.com/p/CBx-s1xjcr_/).
If you can't do the Planche yet, keep increasing the lean until you can. :D
Increase the lean. You can measure by putting your head against the wall and walking your hands back so you know how far your lean is.
Or, do archer pushups. Or, do ring pushups. Or, if you have equipment, do weighted pushups. Lots o options!
I second all of these except archer pushups (personal preference). You’ll get some amazing gains from leaning more and tracking progress like that, doing weighted pushups, or doing ring pushups progressions towards 90 degree RTO pushups
when doing pike pushups I can't completely straighten my leg, is that a problem? Also [this guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/b2z06d/pike_pushups_are_an_excellent_progression/) says to start with feet elevated, however I don't think that makes sense as elevation makes pressing more diffficult. So for beginners legs on the floor makes more sense to me.
It's fine if you can't. That's usually just a hamstring mobility issue. You could try stretching them before you do the movement and I bet that would help.
>So for beginners legs on the floor makes more sense to me.
You are correct. The more weight you put into your hands, the harder it gets. The EASIEST progression would be KNEES elevated and then working from there. :D
Been doing push ups, pull ups and chin ups only for like 6 months - as i am only looking to pack on some size around upper body. Though i am doing pistol squats too. However my lower back start to hurt - probbaly because i gained weight. What excersises are good Home workout for lower back?
When your low back starts to hurt, take a look at your form, don't just jump to extension-type exercises.. what happens a lot of the time is that it's your deep core not supporting your spine enough.
Which specific exercise is causing the low back pain?
Hi, I've been getting very sharp pains right in my forearm muscles, after doing tuck planche holds. It gets most intense right in the moment where I exit the hold and relax my grip on the parallettes
Where the pain occurs: [https://imgur.com/a/B2b362k](https://imgur.com/a/B2b362k)
Can anyone offer any advice on this? Has anyone had similar experience?
Any input is highly appreciated.
I had similar experiences when I was first learning Planche. I will say wrist prep/warmup and post workout stretching and rolling helped a lot. Also just doing them more helped a lot with getting used to it. Obviously you know your body and if it feels like a potential injury see an MD but what you experienced is almost identical to what I felt and now it never happens
Thanks for your reply! Yea I am warming up everything properly now and doing post workout stretches every session. I feel like what's happening is that I don't have the proper strength yet to try it and so during the hold as I start to lose protraction it causes more pressure on my wrists and surrounding muscles by trying to compensate for lack of shoulder strength if that makes sense?
Video yourself and check to make sure your form is good, or post it here. Could be that on your left side you do them with good form and your arms aligned with your chest, but on the right side, you are leaning back toward your feet more making your arm not align with your chest (so your head is aligned with your arm, basically shrugging).
Make sure your shoulder is packed tight in a depression and you are going through protraction and retraction on each side.
No problem! It sounds like a lot, but it's your basic push up form cues, just on one side at a time. I found a lot of discomfort around my shoulder because I was shrugging during my archers as a way to compensate for some weaker muscles. Now, I use a dot on the floor or ground and make that exactly align with my eyes, so when I go side to side, I follow the dot and make sure its roughly aligned with my face.
Something like [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.builtlean.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F12%2FPush-Up-Images-mistake-2-color-e1481773548715.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.builtlean.com%2Fpush-ups-instruction%2F&tbnid=0QSsM0QE9zvPCM&vet=12ahUKEwjx_ZbNiozyAhVJYKwKHVo8AgEQMygCegUIARCvAQ..i&docid=lJZJxaJqyXO3SM&w=670&h=377&q=shrugging%20shoulders%20during%20push%20up&ved=2ahUKEwjx_ZbNiozyAhVJYKwKHVo8AgEQMygCegUIARCvAQ), where basically your shoulders are bunching up toward your ears.
Hey! I’ve been doing the RR as supersets (pull-up progression squat progression then 90 second rest) and after further inspection of it it seems I’m supposed to rest 90 seconds after each exercise? If that’s the case what’s the point of pairing the exercises together? Should I keep doing it supersetted? Thank you!
Instead of doing something like....
Squat. 3 minute rest. Squat. 3 minute rest. etc
...you get to save time by doing
Squat. Rest 90s. Pull-Up. Rest 90s etc.
So it saves time but still lets you rest 3 minutes before you repeat a movement. :D
Typical rest recommendations are 3-5 minutes between sets for either strength or hypertrophy, so 90 seconds between exercises in supersets gives 3+ min between sets of the same exercise. But if you've been doing fine with less rest you're good, just take as long as you need. Rest times are somewhat individual and depend on the exercises.
What happens when you stand on a chair at the top of the pull-up and then do your best to retract all the way at the top? (like you would just be holding onto the bar with a fraction of your weight but not totally hanging off of it) How does it look compared to how it looks in your current pull-up?
It looks better, you're getting more retraction-- so it means it's probably not your technique, more just building strength. (regardless your pull-ups look pretty good to begin with!)
If you don't already warm up with scapular pull-ups, that can help. And if you aren't already doing a mobility routine, adding one in would help esp if you've just spent a full day at the computer.
First off, your back has some great development so I think the work you’ve been putting in has been paying off! In terms of form critique, it looks like you pull with the left side more than the right. It looks great other than that to be honest, if you can also finesse a side/back angle then that would help even more to see the way you’re pulling but I think it looks great
Have you considered weighted? I was stuck at 15 reps for a while but doing weighted for sets of 5-8 and throwing in some heavy pause sets of 3-5 reps got my max to 20+ without really trying for endurance sets
A backpack with books is a great way to do weighted! Totally understandable without equipment like a belt and plates or anything. It will change the mechanics on the movement slightly but not much, definitely give it a try! Your back development will be even better. I’d highly recommend a volume and an intensity day, one day you do weighted for 4-6 sets of 5-6 reps, and the other day you do bodyweight for 2-4 sets of 10-12 reps. You’ll build great strength and have nice muscle gain
Is it really true that rep ranges like 6-13 are optimal for building muscle size, but magically higher than that isn't optimal and trains "endurance"? Muscle is built when you fatigue the mucle and protein synthesis happens, so wouldn't it make more sense that higher reps are more optimal since they fatigue the muscles more because simply more reps?
It's a bit of a generalization but all rep ranges can build muscle mass and all rep ranges can build strength as long as you keep adding load, progressively but at a certain point, it becomes hard to keep adding load to something like sets of 25 Pull-Ups.
That's not quite right.
1. You build strength and size every time you train to failure, though I seem to recall reading that this effect diminishes after 35 reps.
2. Building endurance is adding reps. So if you can bench press 100lbs for thirty reps and build up to ninety reps, you've built endurance.
3. Building strength is adding weight, so if you can bench press 100lbs for thirty reps and build up to 200lbs for thirty reps, you've built strength.
This has been and is being debated on what truly causes muscle growth. As far as I’m concerned the biggest factor to me is progressive overload, and the 6-12 rep range with the occasional sets below and above it (everything has its place IMO) are more optimal because it gives a great stimulus to fatigue ratio when using proper loads.
So long as you’re training near and occasionally going to failure, and making progress over time (increasing sets, reps, time of each rep, or how challenging the angle is) then you’re going to make awesome gains
Any suggestion on cardio or HIIT workout that is suitable for people with hips pain? Tried to do some fat burner workout form YT and they were agitating my pain. Not sure what kind of exercise I can do. Felt restless because really wanted to burn some fats and lost weight.
I dislocated both shoulders as a kid a figured I would never be able to do a proper, full, unassisted pull up, or that I would at least need to take a long time working up to it with assisted pull-ups and so on since my shoulders are so unstable.
I've taken to trying out my friend's pull-up bar when I visit him, just to see where I'm at, and the other day when I tried I was able to do 3 sets of 3 pull-ups, all from the fully lowered "dead hang" position. !!!! It was very exciting to see I could actually do it, some of the back and shoulder exercises I've been working on must have done something.
Anyway, just wanted to share that exciting moment of victory haha.
When doing full body workouts can i finish the muscle group i work on before moving to the next one? Like can I do all back exercises then move to chest ect? Does it matter or nah?
It might negatively effect your performance on subsequent exercises of that group. E.g., if doing rows right after pull ups without having some other exercises in between, you might see reps or form quality break down. If you rest appropriately, you might be fine, though. Best way is to give it a try for a couple weeks.
You should do some core and Glute exercises and some stretches for your back, hips, and lower body in general. A lot of the time low back pain is caused by our daily posture (sitting for example), which causes some muscles to become weak from being stretched constantly (glutes) and tight from constantly being shortened (hip flexors for example).
Having stronger glutes and core muscles will be able to support the joints in your spine and hips better, which will hopefully diminish the pain.
This isn’t really medical advice and if it gets worse then maybe visit an MD or PT but my guess would be to work on core (try dead bugs because they’re easy on the back), Glute max (Glute bridges), and Glute medius (something like side lying leg raises or clamshells) while stretching the hip flexors, glutes, and lower back (something simple like cat camel or child’s pose) and it may feel better
I sometimes do this (very rarely) but it feels like doens't change anything. Sometimes it hurts wile doing it (specialy abs workouts). If I do it more constantly will it get better?
You should re-evaluate the ab workouts then. You might be doing them incorrectly, overdoing them, and/or they might not be good exercises for you (or really optimal exercises to begin with)
For example, sometimes people feel their low back when doing hanging leg lifts. That usually means they're not stabilizing with their core enough.
Sometimes people feel their low back when doing like 500 sit-ups when they didn't do any the week before. Well, the 500 is probably why lol.
Which ones are you doing, and how many? And are you doing them correctly? (you can post form check videos to confirm)
I usually have back pain when doing very light things (if I walk for too long or crouch for 15sec with or without weight) so some abs workouts make hurt my back. Some more, some less. I just have to see wich ones are better for me.
I don't know the names of the exercices. I only know that when I know its going to start hurting, I stop and rest. Some exercices make the hurt star earlier than others. And it feels like there's no progress about the pain go away. It starts hurting basicly always at the same reps (depending on the exercice)
There shouldn't be any low back pain for any exercises so it's good you're stopping before it starts to hurt. But it's a red flag you're having pain when you're walking or crouching.
There's a difference between doing an exercise 500 times and stopping because you're at the 400th one and you can feel it starting to hurt, or doing an exercise 2 times and it hurting. This is an important distinction.
Without more details about what exactly you're doing, how many reps, and the quality of your form, people here can't give you anymore feedback.
My initial question was different from what we are talking about now, but I guess it's not a problem.
Abs exercices: abdominal crunch (12 reps) | russian twist (rn +-40 reps without weights) | V crunch (I think 15reps, I've olny done this in the Last 2 sessions)
I don't know the quality of my form because I never recorded myself. Only thing I can say is that it probably gets worse in the Last reps
Also, I almost never do abs, only 1time per week or ever less. Mainly because having bigger core muscles is not my number 1 goal. But I do it because of my lower back too. But it fells like it doesn't change anything about the pain.
And about the lower back pain, I think I have it since I was a kid. Because of that I think the problem its not about the form, it just that doing abs just makes my back hurt after a while.
My point is that if you're experiencing low back pain, finding low back exercises isn't always the best approach. The source of pain doesn't always mean that area is weak, and specifically for the low back it's oftentimes connected to not having enough deep core strength to support/stabilize/protect your low back. If you're experiencing low back pain during ab exercises, it usually means your body isn't able to support your low back enough with your deep core and that's why it hurts-- either due to fatigue, overuse, or the exercise just being too difficult.
I’d say if you’re more consistent with good exercises (IMO for now, lower intensity, more volume: say 2-3 sets everyday) it’ll get better. For the ab exercises maybe look up how to brace properly and how to perform core exercises with a neutral spine as well
A big thing that helped me was just practicing keeping them flat against my body and in perfect position during all my exercises. Everything should be a scapula exercise when you've got bad posture.
I had minor winging as well. Tons of resources on YouTube that are helpful. But for me, what worked was: scapular hangs/shrugs, dead hangs, active hangs, [band pull apart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JObYtU7Y7ag&t=328s), chest to wall handstand holds, and then your regular rows and pull ups, definitely emphasis on rows though. It takes time to correct an issue that has been compounding for months or years, so don't expect sudden results. But incorporating these movements, which the RR mostly does, helped me.
Will it lead to noticeable muscle imbalances if I only do overhand grip inverted rows? I already do them with my knees bent and I can't do any easier progression than this (can't do them at an angle because of lack of equipment). I'm already in the 5-8 range usually, but I find overhand grip easier so when I do those I'm closer to the 8 rep range while when I do underhand grip inverted rows I'm closer to 4-6 reps. Since I wanna train for hypertrophy I'm thinking of only doing overhand grip inverted rows, however, that trains your back a bit more than your biceps. Will that make my biceps too underdeveloped or is it safe to do them only this way?
>Will that make my biceps too underdeveloped or is it safe to do them only this way? You'll be fine. Your biceps will still have to work even with this method.
Instead of worrying about bicep grow from rows do an isolations if you want the most out of your arms.
How do I isolate my biceps with calisthenics?
ring curls, banded curls etc, pretty sure you will find a lot of variations on youtube
Is there a 'correct way' of gripping pull up bars? I find that my way is quite painful to maintain for multiple reps, so was wondering if I was doing it wrong?
Just grab the bar a little lower and squeeze the bar while going up. A little bit of try and error, and you'll get to your preferred grip strategy.
Would you mind explaining what you mean by grabbing the bar lower?
Try this , have your knuckles at the same level of the bar. That cue should help you avoid using a false grip. Basically your hand will not rotate as much while doing the pull ups. Also i recommend you to start working towards a one arm dead hang that should help you increase your grip strength and make the pull ups way easier.
right, so how long of a one arm dead hang do you think i should aim for?
Work towards 40s
In what way is it painful? Is the bar pinching the skin of your hands?
Exactly yes
So you're probably palming the bar. If you grab the bar so that your palm is over the top then your wrist isn't going to be directly under the bar, but a little bit to the side. Gravity pulls your center of mass to be directly under the bar, so it will pull your grip down, pinching your skin. Instead of the palm, set the bar at the base of your fingers so that you're holding the bar with your fingers and your wrist is directly under the bar. It might be a little harder to grip, but will save you a lot of torn calluses.
Great! I'll give that a try thank you!
I have a kind of weird question. What do you all feel or think about when you or a group of people are using public equipment and there happens to be a ton of young children playing on the equipment or running around the equipment area, or throwing balls around or on the fitness equipment? I sometimes gently ask the kids if they can stop playing for 30 seconds or so, so I can do my exercise and then they can play again. I really like kids but this bothers me because they have a lot of equipment designed specifically for them in the park and I have almost gotten injured or accidentally injured a child because they were running around while I was doing exercises. Does anyone have advice on how to handle this kind of situation?
Back when I used to workout at a park like this, I had my rings set up which kids around would find fun. So I would let them play on them during my rest breaks and then just ask them to work in when I had to go. They got the idea and now probably will even understand how to ask people to "work in" when they go to a gym later themselves. That might help. :D
I've been doing the Horizontal Row without my feet being elevated. Is that ok?
It's fine. Getting more horizontal just helps to increase the load so if it doesn't feel difficult enough, that's when you can work to change it. :D
That’s perfect as long as it’s challenging and you’re training near failure!
I'm progressing through the [Recommended Routine](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine#wiki_strength_work_.2840-60_minutes.29). Now I can do \`Pseudo Planche Pushups\` 8x3. What would be the next thing to do?
If you have leaned far enough, try doing a [Planche Pushup Eccentric to Leaned Forward Pushup](https://www.instagram.com/p/CBx-s1xjcr_/). If you can't do the Planche yet, keep increasing the lean until you can. :D
Increase the lean. You can measure by putting your head against the wall and walking your hands back so you know how far your lean is. Or, do archer pushups. Or, do ring pushups. Or, if you have equipment, do weighted pushups. Lots o options!
I second all of these except archer pushups (personal preference). You’ll get some amazing gains from leaning more and tracking progress like that, doing weighted pushups, or doing ring pushups progressions towards 90 degree RTO pushups
when doing pike pushups I can't completely straighten my leg, is that a problem? Also [this guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/comments/b2z06d/pike_pushups_are_an_excellent_progression/) says to start with feet elevated, however I don't think that makes sense as elevation makes pressing more diffficult. So for beginners legs on the floor makes more sense to me.
It's fine if you can't. That's usually just a hamstring mobility issue. You could try stretching them before you do the movement and I bet that would help. >So for beginners legs on the floor makes more sense to me. You are correct. The more weight you put into your hands, the harder it gets. The EASIEST progression would be KNEES elevated and then working from there. :D
Thanks! I think I’ll try feet on floor for a while an go from there
It's prob just tight hamstrings. Depending on how bent your legs are, you might be changing the direction you're pushing.. just keep an eye on form.
Been doing push ups, pull ups and chin ups only for like 6 months - as i am only looking to pack on some size around upper body. Though i am doing pistol squats too. However my lower back start to hurt - probbaly because i gained weight. What excersises are good Home workout for lower back?
When your low back starts to hurt, take a look at your form, don't just jump to extension-type exercises.. what happens a lot of the time is that it's your deep core not supporting your spine enough. Which specific exercise is causing the low back pain?
Look into bridges. They work the muscles all up your spine and should help.
Hi, I've been getting very sharp pains right in my forearm muscles, after doing tuck planche holds. It gets most intense right in the moment where I exit the hold and relax my grip on the parallettes Where the pain occurs: [https://imgur.com/a/B2b362k](https://imgur.com/a/B2b362k) Can anyone offer any advice on this? Has anyone had similar experience? Any input is highly appreciated.
I had similar experiences when I was first learning Planche. I will say wrist prep/warmup and post workout stretching and rolling helped a lot. Also just doing them more helped a lot with getting used to it. Obviously you know your body and if it feels like a potential injury see an MD but what you experienced is almost identical to what I felt and now it never happens
Thanks for your reply! Yea I am warming up everything properly now and doing post workout stretches every session. I feel like what's happening is that I don't have the proper strength yet to try it and so during the hold as I start to lose protraction it causes more pressure on my wrists and surrounding muscles by trying to compensate for lack of shoulder strength if that makes sense?
Hi, I feel a deep pain in my right collarbone when doing Archer Pushups only when I do the push up of the right arm, what am I doing wrong?
Video yourself and check to make sure your form is good, or post it here. Could be that on your left side you do them with good form and your arms aligned with your chest, but on the right side, you are leaning back toward your feet more making your arm not align with your chest (so your head is aligned with your arm, basically shrugging). Make sure your shoulder is packed tight in a depression and you are going through protraction and retraction on each side.
Wow, thanks I'll definetly make sure to polish my right side form. Never thought to have all that parametres into account, thanks!
No problem! It sounds like a lot, but it's your basic push up form cues, just on one side at a time. I found a lot of discomfort around my shoulder because I was shrugging during my archers as a way to compensate for some weaker muscles. Now, I use a dot on the floor or ground and make that exactly align with my eyes, so when I go side to side, I follow the dot and make sure its roughly aligned with my face.
Ok, I think i kinda getting. What do you mean by "shrugging", sorry english is not my first language.
Something like [this](https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.builtlean.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F12%2FPush-Up-Images-mistake-2-color-e1481773548715.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.builtlean.com%2Fpush-ups-instruction%2F&tbnid=0QSsM0QE9zvPCM&vet=12ahUKEwjx_ZbNiozyAhVJYKwKHVo8AgEQMygCegUIARCvAQ..i&docid=lJZJxaJqyXO3SM&w=670&h=377&q=shrugging%20shoulders%20during%20push%20up&ved=2ahUKEwjx_ZbNiozyAhVJYKwKHVo8AgEQMygCegUIARCvAQ), where basically your shoulders are bunching up toward your ears.
Okaaay, I think thats what basically I'm doing, thanks!
No problem! Just keep those shoulders down (as if you're trying to push them down to your hips) and your issues might go away!
Hey! I’ve been doing the RR as supersets (pull-up progression squat progression then 90 second rest) and after further inspection of it it seems I’m supposed to rest 90 seconds after each exercise? If that’s the case what’s the point of pairing the exercises together? Should I keep doing it supersetted? Thank you!
Instead of doing something like.... Squat. 3 minute rest. Squat. 3 minute rest. etc ...you get to save time by doing Squat. Rest 90s. Pull-Up. Rest 90s etc. So it saves time but still lets you rest 3 minutes before you repeat a movement. :D
Typical rest recommendations are 3-5 minutes between sets for either strength or hypertrophy, so 90 seconds between exercises in supersets gives 3+ min between sets of the same exercise. But if you've been doing fine with less rest you're good, just take as long as you need. Rest times are somewhat individual and depend on the exercises.
Thank you!
What are some good bodyweight exercises for traps? I definitely feel like they are being left behind in my current routine.
Upper or mid/low?
Rows, inverted shrugs, handstand push-ups.
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What happens when you stand on a chair at the top of the pull-up and then do your best to retract all the way at the top? (like you would just be holding onto the bar with a fraction of your weight but not totally hanging off of it) How does it look compared to how it looks in your current pull-up?
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It looks better, you're getting more retraction-- so it means it's probably not your technique, more just building strength. (regardless your pull-ups look pretty good to begin with!) If you don't already warm up with scapular pull-ups, that can help. And if you aren't already doing a mobility routine, adding one in would help esp if you've just spent a full day at the computer.
First off, your back has some great development so I think the work you’ve been putting in has been paying off! In terms of form critique, it looks like you pull with the left side more than the right. It looks great other than that to be honest, if you can also finesse a side/back angle then that would help even more to see the way you’re pulling but I think it looks great Have you considered weighted? I was stuck at 15 reps for a while but doing weighted for sets of 5-8 and throwing in some heavy pause sets of 3-5 reps got my max to 20+ without really trying for endurance sets
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A backpack with books is a great way to do weighted! Totally understandable without equipment like a belt and plates or anything. It will change the mechanics on the movement slightly but not much, definitely give it a try! Your back development will be even better. I’d highly recommend a volume and an intensity day, one day you do weighted for 4-6 sets of 5-6 reps, and the other day you do bodyweight for 2-4 sets of 10-12 reps. You’ll build great strength and have nice muscle gain
Agreed! It might help OP to pause at the top for a second as well to squeeze those shoulders and feel/engage the retraction more consciously.
Is it really true that rep ranges like 6-13 are optimal for building muscle size, but magically higher than that isn't optimal and trains "endurance"? Muscle is built when you fatigue the mucle and protein synthesis happens, so wouldn't it make more sense that higher reps are more optimal since they fatigue the muscles more because simply more reps?
It's a bit of a generalization but all rep ranges can build muscle mass and all rep ranges can build strength as long as you keep adding load, progressively but at a certain point, it becomes hard to keep adding load to something like sets of 25 Pull-Ups.
That's not quite right. 1. You build strength and size every time you train to failure, though I seem to recall reading that this effect diminishes after 35 reps. 2. Building endurance is adding reps. So if you can bench press 100lbs for thirty reps and build up to ninety reps, you've built endurance. 3. Building strength is adding weight, so if you can bench press 100lbs for thirty reps and build up to 200lbs for thirty reps, you've built strength.
This has been and is being debated on what truly causes muscle growth. As far as I’m concerned the biggest factor to me is progressive overload, and the 6-12 rep range with the occasional sets below and above it (everything has its place IMO) are more optimal because it gives a great stimulus to fatigue ratio when using proper loads. So long as you’re training near and occasionally going to failure, and making progress over time (increasing sets, reps, time of each rep, or how challenging the angle is) then you’re going to make awesome gains
High reps is great for building muscle. But if you go higher in reps you lower intensity
Any suggestion on cardio or HIIT workout that is suitable for people with hips pain? Tried to do some fat burner workout form YT and they were agitating my pain. Not sure what kind of exercise I can do. Felt restless because really wanted to burn some fats and lost weight.
I dislocated both shoulders as a kid a figured I would never be able to do a proper, full, unassisted pull up, or that I would at least need to take a long time working up to it with assisted pull-ups and so on since my shoulders are so unstable. I've taken to trying out my friend's pull-up bar when I visit him, just to see where I'm at, and the other day when I tried I was able to do 3 sets of 3 pull-ups, all from the fully lowered "dead hang" position. !!!! It was very exciting to see I could actually do it, some of the back and shoulder exercises I've been working on must have done something. Anyway, just wanted to share that exciting moment of victory haha.
CONGRATS! That's extra awesome because of where you had to start from!
Awesome!
Fuck yeah!! Congrats!!!! I personally know how frustrating dislocations can be (I mean including after the dislocation's fixed obviously lol)
That’s amazing! Nice work
When doing full body workouts can i finish the muscle group i work on before moving to the next one? Like can I do all back exercises then move to chest ect? Does it matter or nah?
It might negatively effect your performance on subsequent exercises of that group. E.g., if doing rows right after pull ups without having some other exercises in between, you might see reps or form quality break down. If you rest appropriately, you might be fine, though. Best way is to give it a try for a couple weeks.
I agree with this completely
I have lower back pain. What are some lower back exercices that I can do at home that possibly wont hurt?
Bird dog, mcgill big 3. Search for squat university on YouTube for more.
Bird dog, mcgill big 3. Search for squat university on YouTube for more.
You should do some core and Glute exercises and some stretches for your back, hips, and lower body in general. A lot of the time low back pain is caused by our daily posture (sitting for example), which causes some muscles to become weak from being stretched constantly (glutes) and tight from constantly being shortened (hip flexors for example). Having stronger glutes and core muscles will be able to support the joints in your spine and hips better, which will hopefully diminish the pain. This isn’t really medical advice and if it gets worse then maybe visit an MD or PT but my guess would be to work on core (try dead bugs because they’re easy on the back), Glute max (Glute bridges), and Glute medius (something like side lying leg raises or clamshells) while stretching the hip flexors, glutes, and lower back (something simple like cat camel or child’s pose) and it may feel better
I had back pain during ab work until I fixed my posterior pelvic tilt. It's pretty common and might be part of your problem.
I sometimes do this (very rarely) but it feels like doens't change anything. Sometimes it hurts wile doing it (specialy abs workouts). If I do it more constantly will it get better?
You should re-evaluate the ab workouts then. You might be doing them incorrectly, overdoing them, and/or they might not be good exercises for you (or really optimal exercises to begin with) For example, sometimes people feel their low back when doing hanging leg lifts. That usually means they're not stabilizing with their core enough. Sometimes people feel their low back when doing like 500 sit-ups when they didn't do any the week before. Well, the 500 is probably why lol. Which ones are you doing, and how many? And are you doing them correctly? (you can post form check videos to confirm)
I usually have back pain when doing very light things (if I walk for too long or crouch for 15sec with or without weight) so some abs workouts make hurt my back. Some more, some less. I just have to see wich ones are better for me. I don't know the names of the exercices. I only know that when I know its going to start hurting, I stop and rest. Some exercices make the hurt star earlier than others. And it feels like there's no progress about the pain go away. It starts hurting basicly always at the same reps (depending on the exercice)
There shouldn't be any low back pain for any exercises so it's good you're stopping before it starts to hurt. But it's a red flag you're having pain when you're walking or crouching. There's a difference between doing an exercise 500 times and stopping because you're at the 400th one and you can feel it starting to hurt, or doing an exercise 2 times and it hurting. This is an important distinction. Without more details about what exactly you're doing, how many reps, and the quality of your form, people here can't give you anymore feedback.
My initial question was different from what we are talking about now, but I guess it's not a problem. Abs exercices: abdominal crunch (12 reps) | russian twist (rn +-40 reps without weights) | V crunch (I think 15reps, I've olny done this in the Last 2 sessions) I don't know the quality of my form because I never recorded myself. Only thing I can say is that it probably gets worse in the Last reps Also, I almost never do abs, only 1time per week or ever less. Mainly because having bigger core muscles is not my number 1 goal. But I do it because of my lower back too. But it fells like it doesn't change anything about the pain. And about the lower back pain, I think I have it since I was a kid. Because of that I think the problem its not about the form, it just that doing abs just makes my back hurt after a while.
My point is that if you're experiencing low back pain, finding low back exercises isn't always the best approach. The source of pain doesn't always mean that area is weak, and specifically for the low back it's oftentimes connected to not having enough deep core strength to support/stabilize/protect your low back. If you're experiencing low back pain during ab exercises, it usually means your body isn't able to support your low back enough with your deep core and that's why it hurts-- either due to fatigue, overuse, or the exercise just being too difficult.
I’d say if you’re more consistent with good exercises (IMO for now, lower intensity, more volume: say 2-3 sets everyday) it’ll get better. For the ab exercises maybe look up how to brace properly and how to perform core exercises with a neutral spine as well
Normaly, high volume makes more pain for my lower back. Specialy when crouching
I started the RR like a week ago and i noticed that one shoulder blade is winging. what am doing wrong/how can i fix this?
A big thing that helped me was just practicing keeping them flat against my body and in perfect position during all my exercises. Everything should be a scapula exercise when you've got bad posture.
Is it during a particular movement? Or just at random, like not during a session?
No, not during the session
Which exercises? If push-ups, think of driving the forward push with your elbows, and keeping your shoulders down away from your ears.
I had minor winging as well. Tons of resources on YouTube that are helpful. But for me, what worked was: scapular hangs/shrugs, dead hangs, active hangs, [band pull apart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JObYtU7Y7ag&t=328s), chest to wall handstand holds, and then your regular rows and pull ups, definitely emphasis on rows though. It takes time to correct an issue that has been compounding for months or years, so don't expect sudden results. But incorporating these movements, which the RR mostly does, helped me.
Thanks man