By who? If by a doctor you need to find a new doctor. Strength training has been proven to be the best thing you can do for longevity and a healthy life.
[Reply]

What's everyones workout look like these days. I am between programs until next week when I start a new one.

Yesterday I did push/pull.

5x10 150lb strict viking press
5x8 185lb incline bench
3x10 150lb cable pullovers
3x8 185lbs lat pulldown
3x10 40lb lateral dumbbell raises
3x5 225lb bent over dumbell rows.
3x10 160lb low to high face pulls

Squats and accessorie today. Probably looking at:

3x6 315lb squats.
5x8 275lb RDLs
Some sort of splt squat
Leg extension and curls.
Maybe a bit more of something depending on energy left.
[Reply]

Not sure I understand not using your hands for weights if you're also golfing, but overall I'd guess higher rep/lower weight stuff, and probably on machines to help with stability... find yourself a Planet Fitness and overall you can get a pretty comprehensive workout with their machines.

Light googling suggests weightlifting is especially beneficial for arthritis, so it seems like maybe there's some nuance or missing context for someone to say not to... or yeah maybe find a new doc.
[Reply]

Nice result Rainmakerman. It appears you have quite a bit of running experience as Marcellus and some others. I have a question for you runners about HOW to run slow.

I'm attempting to run 20 mpw and doing almost all of it an easy pace. Yes I HAVE to monitor it with my heartrate or I will simply run too fast and I wont be able to run as often due to lactic acid soreness. Ive tried it. I have to be super cognizant of it on my easy runs. Anyway...the issue I have is when I run easy at 135 bpm to 150 bpm I have to run so slowly that it annihilates my knees. If I run with correct form with a higher leg kick my heart rate gets too high and I have to walk but my knees feel great.

So I don't know what to do. If I run slowly my knees are fucked. If I run too fast my legs/ankle/shins are fucked from lactic acid. Wondering if I can just go to the gym and do stationary bike or rows or something and get the same aerobic benefit as jogging. My only goal is to run 5k as fast as possible and I have only been working on my aerobic base for a month. Ive seen huge gains to my 5k time by this zone 2 or lower heartbeat training but the pain in my knees while running slow wears on me.
[Reply]

I do a (chest, font delt, side delts) / (back, traps, rear delts) / arms / legs


Lately I tend to do pre-exhaust. So for legs I'll do extensions, 4-5 sets all to failure with the last set being a drop set. Then I'll do leg curls the same way, THEN I'll go to some combo of squats, lunges, split squats, or leg press. I feel like I get a lot more muscle workout of the compound movements that way. Before, I'd mainly feel it in my joints for the first 6 sets or so. Now I feel squats entirely in the muscle.
[Reply]

My split is:

Push/Pull
Squat
Rest (sometimes still go to gym and do arms and mobility work)
Push/pull
Hinge (deadlifts)
Strongman Comp prep (any specialized events not covered via regular training)
Rest
[Reply]

Crazy how you can not notice something like that. I've definitely noticed it the last couple days!
[Reply]

"Hi-my name is Marcellus and I am an excerciseaholic."

I'm in a pretty solid spot right now just maintaining on my lifts for now and have been training for a very hilly 25K trail race in a couple weeks so legs haven't been in the program for about 6 weeks. After this race I'll get back to squats and deadlifts.

My week has generally looked something like this for a long time. I run in the morning and lift at noon during lunch.

Monday - Chest. I do chest relatively heavy, finished up last set Monday with 3 reps at 305 on flat bench then some incline dumbells at 75, 80, and 85lbs.

Tuesday - Morning run 4-5 miles and then Biceps and Triceps. I do more reps on biceps, usually in the 6-8 range on working sets and do 5-8 on triceps. I try to mix up my bicep workout every week swapping out different base exercises.

Wednesday- 7 mile hilly or tempo run no lift

Thursday - short run in the morning 3-4 miles then Back and Shoulders in the 6-8 rep range for working sets.

Friday - Morning run, usually 5 miles and then core work. I had to start adding regular core work to combat a lower back issue and its worked so far so I try to stay religious on this.

Saturday - Long run, distance depends on what I am training for and where in my plan I am. Did 14 hilly miles last Saturday at 8:25 avg per mile.

Sunday - 30-40 minute easy recovery run.

I've got an app I use that tracks all my workouts at the gym and my running stuff.

Today is day 303 of this year and I have logged 333 workouts combined so far this year and that's with 2 vacation weeks that I did very little. Its good to take a break every now and then.
[Reply]

So for strongman specific, what are you doing? Hercules hold? Axle deadlifts? Farmer walks? Sled pushes or rope pulls? Atlas stones? Circus dumbbell? Husafell stone? There are so many random ass strongman events that I don't know how you can train for all of them. What stuff do you have (or what does your gym have)?
[Reply]

I've thought about the sequencing from time to time as I've heard people mention placing the most important exercises first/early as you'll get the most bang for your buck.... but then I've absolutely felt the benefits of earlier sets as I go through multiple sets or a workout.

And I don't think it would matter a ton in the long run for me personally, but have experimented both ways a bit. When I was unfucking my squat, I put it first in my workout and would warm up with some lighter squats... interesting you mentioned joints though, because I wrecked mine in that process, but think it had just as much or more to do with volume than anything else.

Maybe I'll play around with it a bit.

...and I love drop sets for leg extensions and seated leg curls (and calf raises just as a time saver), plus started slowing down reps a decent amount on both. I'll do a couple sets and then 3-4-5 without a break, before wobbling to the next machine.
[Reply]

If I have a comp coming up I do the events for that comp.

My gym has everything but tires.

Next comp is...

Viking Press AMRAP 60 seconds
Ukrainian DL AMRAP 60 seconds
Arm over Arm 50ft 60 second time limit
Tire flip AMRAP 60 seconds
Stone run 120lbs-320lbs 20 seconds per stone
[Reply]

I've done a couple of long running races in heavy rain. I finished, felt good, and then when I got back to a mirror I had runner's nipple with blood all over my shirt. I didn't feel it when it was happening, but I sure felt it in the shower afterwards. Youch.
[Reply]

I may be aided by the fact that I didn't get into running until my late 40s, so I'm naturally pretty slow.

One thing I've noticed is that my heart rate gets over 150 any time I run. I can't run slow enough to keep it below that. So I just run at a speed where I feel comfortable.

It's weird to say this, but there's a lot of nuance that you can use to go faster or slower. I find that if I don't pay attention, I slow down my cadence, which is not good. I have to think about keeping my cadence up constantly.

Another thing I've been trying recently is to have more of a forward lean. If you lean forward to where you're about to fall on your face, then it's supposedly easier on your legs to move forward. In other words, you can get a faster pace with less effort (and a lower heart rate, presumably). I've been trying to do it a bit, but you really have to concentrate on doing it or you'll naturally lean back. It doesn't feel very natural, but it does increase one's speed.

The bottom line is that you should just do what feels right.
[Reply]

Nice job! It's a great feeling to finish your first half-marathon.

And yeah, running tights are worth the money, especially if you go out in cold weather.
[Reply]

Just stick with heart rate pacing and it will improve. Like anything else it takes time, you will adapt.

You will also start running faster than you used to at the same lower zone 2 heart rates as you adapt so it becomes easier with time.

Its not something that happens overnight. Anything you do training wise takes about 3 weeks to see the results of the training.

So as crazy as it sounds, if you do a speed workout, you really wont see the benefit of that workout for about 3 weeks.

If you do consistent zone 2 runs, you wont see the benefit for about 3 weeks.

Stick with it.
[Reply]