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For lazy/shy people like me I recommend bodyweight fitness. Reddit has some nice community for that. Various core drills and stretching (back bends, lounges, sq
by krzat 9y ago
For lazy/shy people like me I recommend bodyweight fitness. Reddit has some nice community for that. Various core drills and stretching (back bends, lounges, squat) cured my back pain.
- 2muchcoffeeman 9y agoI'd still recommend learning to squat under load. I'm fine under my own body weight. Put a bar on my back and problems show themselves again.
- freeloop3 9y agoAs the article states: > At best, we might undertake ［squatting］ during Crossfit, pilates or while lifting at the gym, but only partially and often with weights (a repetitive maneuver that’s hard to imagine being useful 2.5 million years ago) I kind of go along with that. Squatting with a bar on your back is a weird maneuver.
- sudhirj 9y agoSquats under load are pretty fundamental. Carrying a killed deer on your back, or stone, clay, or a mate or a child all require effective loaded squats.
- freeloop3 9y agoWhere is the rest of the movement, then? Why not pick a big bag of sand and place it on your back, walk around with it, and set it back down again? Wouldn't our ancestors carry far less, maybe max 90kg, then people do today? It doesnt make sense to brutally punish your joints with much more than that for part of that action and completely ignore the other part of it.
- sethammons 9y agoSandbag carries and farmer walks do just that :). As for the idea that you are brutally punishing your joints, I don't believe that to be the case. Controlled squats vs running? Yeah, controlled squats will be way better on the knee. I do weighted exercises regularly and have a marketed reduction in joint pain from before. A barbell squat with good form will not put undue stress on the knee joint and builds muscle that supports it. For me, the added muscle also removed my lower back pain. This also comes with the caveat that you need to stretch and mobilize too.
- NoGravitas 9y ago“Studies have shown that an ant can carry one hundred times its own weight, but there is no known limit to the lifting power of the average tiny eighty-year-old Spanish peasant grandmother.” ― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man
- cerebrum 9y agoSafe alternative: hip belt squat. Don't load your back/spine. Google it.
- dpark 9y agoYes, take the back entirely out of the exercise. That will definitely help with strengthening the back.
- cerebrum 9y agoThere are safer exercises for strengthening the back. Squats are good for the legs.
- dpark 9y agoSquats are awesome for the back and quite safe unless done very improperly. If you can’t squat the weight safely, it’s too much for your legs anyway. You have an imbalance, by definition, if the weight that is appropriate for your legs is enough to put your back at risk.
- cerebrum 9y agoLegs are stronger than your back. So a good load for the legs will probably be too much for the back. Also there is only a limited amount of repeated compression that the vertebral discs can handle.
- dpark 9y ago> Legs are stronger than your back. So a good load for the legs will probably be too much for the back. Well, yes and no. In unnatural movements like the hip belt “squat” where you have no range of motion and have almost created an isolation movement, sure. In more natural movements like a lunge or squat, where the muscles must work together and you use reasonable range of motion, not necessarily true. It’s more commonly the legs that fail in a squat. You do realize that the glutes and hamstrings are part of the legs, right? They execute the hip hinge that makes bending at the hips possible. When you take the back out of a squat, you largely remove these as well. > Also there is only a limited amount of repeated compression that the vertebral discs can handle. This is a definite “citation needed” sort of claim. The spine produces synovial fluid and heals like the rest of the joints. Obviously there are limits to how much it can heal, but that applies to every joint and consistently studies indicate better joint health among strength training individuals. A few dozen squats a week is definitely not the maximum the spine can handle.
- rodolphoarruda 9y agoIn case you are travelling and cannot bring the bar with you ;-) a good alternative is the "prisoner squat". Place both hands behind you head crossing your fingers. With elbows out as much as you can do the squat like prisoners do it, veeery sloooowly, start with 4 x 12.
- mattferderer 9y agoI would also recommend "Wall Sits". Very similar.
- NoGravitas 9y agoIn traditional calisthenics, there is a progression beyond a simple squat with your body weight. Uneven squats, half one-leg squats, assisted one-leg squats, all leading up to one-leg squats.
- mr_overalls 9y agoI'm also a big believer in calisthenics and bodyweight progression, but it's worth noting that pistol squats and several other advanced bodyweight squats can strengthen your quads and glutes very well, but end up teaching you a different movement pattern from a biomechanically-sound (i.e. straight-spined) squat. It's basically impossible to avoid tucking the pelvis and rounding the spine when doing a pistol. E.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NvOuty_Fnc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NvOuty_Fnc Edit: Shrimp squats are an exception, I suppose.
- mattferderer 9y agoIf it's your back your worried about, I would recommend deadlifts over squats. They're much easier to do from a technique standpoint & have less risk. Also squats are more for leg strength. Deadlifts are great for your back and also work several other muscles, including your legs. Squats are great for building leg strength but have a high risk of back & knee injury under heavy loads if done incorrectly. Even if you do them correctly, a heavy load might force you to lean forward which can damage your back. There are much safer lifts for those of us who aren't experts, such as hex bar squats.
- dpark 9y ago> Even if you do them correctly, a heavy load might force you to lean forward which can damage your back. Leaning forward damages your back? Then why are you suggesting deadlifts? Squats are not hard to do correctly. Risk of injury is probably not higher than deadlifts. And squats work more than just legs. They do work the legs hard, but they also work the back. Front squats will also work the upper back quite a bit.
- SmellyGeekBoy 9y agoWhy not both? Plus other mobility and cardio work. It's all beneficial in various ways.
- dpark 9y agoOf course do both. I was not advocating otherwise. :)
- mattferderer 9y agoIt appears "leaning forward" was not a great phrase to use. I meant to say it may force you to lean forward an additional amount into a bad position where you need to lean backwards to correct it. This is where hurting your back would occur. I agree, front squats are great! But I personally feel squats do minimal to back muscles.
- 9y ago
- freeloop3 9y agoAlso, I'd recommend picking up a kettlebell. Plenty of videos on YouTube with workouts you can follow.
- koonsolo 9y agoBodyweight fitness is awesome! It also trains a lot more muscles at the same time when doing a single exercise. For the doubters who think you need heavy weights, try to do: - 1 arm pull-ups - 1 arm, 1 foot pushups - Dragon flag (for abs) - 1 leg squats (pistol squats) Of those I can only do the 1 leg squats and 1 arm-1 foot pushups (working on the rest ;)). Also search YouTube for "calisthenics" to get a bunch of stuff you can do. There are things from absolute beginners to insane.
- jib 9y agoThat's a bit like saying you can do anything in C, working from scratch though. Yes you CAN. That doesn't mean it is not a hell of a lot easier to get the same results by using other tools though. If you want to get fit (build muscle), and you're not using a barbell, you're most likely making things harder for yourself. If that is what you want to do, fine, but recognize that you're taking a more difficult route.
- Sawamara 9y agoActually, no, you are making it a LOT more difficult to get into proper shape WITHOUT injuries if you are starting from scratch and use heavyweights instead. Your body needs time to adapt to exercise, and body-weight exercises can provide a longterm plan to get that growth without threatening some serious injuries.
- codersteve 9y agoDon't use heavy weights, use light weight and add slowly.
- Sawamara 9y agoWhen I was around 16 years old and started training with weights (just like what my father recommended me doing), and gradually increased the weights, there were joints and muscle groups in my body that just could not adjust. I had no way of improving triceps reasonably alongside the rest for pushups for example, and my right shoulder had the weirdest pain points whenever I moved weights with it beyond the initial smaller scales. So I eventually gave up. Fast forward a decade, and my right shoulder still remembers these pains - I dunno if the weights caused it or some previous injury, but when I started training with my own weight, one sign that I was getting ahead of myself was that small pain. Now I can progress slower, but still I have to be very careful. Some of the exercises with heavy weights are just not natural for the body and simply exhaust/strain it more than it should. If you are experienced, you can work around these limitations, but I prefer body-weight exercises now.
- JustSomeNobody 9y agoWhat subs would you recommend for someone starting out?
- pmoriarty 9y agor/bodyweightfitness' Recommended Routine[1] is a great place to start. They have a section on squats.[2] [1] - https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommend... [2] - https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/exercises/squat https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/exercises/sq...
- cgag 9y agoFor shy lazy people there's not much I'd recommend more strongly than lifting anyway.
- jehlakj 9y agoI’m pretty sure “shy lazy” is a cover for “proud”. I’ve been there, and i soon realized nobody cares at the gym.