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I don't have an opinion on major lifts as I have fairly little experience with them, but as a younger man I would have (uninformedly) considered them "not right

by _dps 14y ago

I don't have an opinion on major lifts as I have fairly little experience with them, but as a younger man I would have (uninformedly) considered them "not right for me". What I did find right for me was intense rowing (on a machine), which I believe develops many of the same support muscles (but doesn't lead to the hypertrophy-induced visible muscle growth the same way lifts do, so if that's your goal rowing may not fit you). For my tastes, I find rowing the perfect counterbalance to a sedentary lifestyle. The full-body compression/extension cycle just feels like the direct opposite of sitting fixed at a desk all day. It may be psychological, but it's very common for me to sense a relative weakening in my posture control muscles if I miss a week of rowing for holidays or illness. Related tip: if you find long (6+ hr) flights physically taxing (yes, first world problems etc.), improving your posture control musculature can provide noticeable relief. Even as a teenager I used to dread having to sit upright and mostly fixed in place on transatlantic flights, but ever since I took up rowing in my early 20s I almost never feel cramped or fatigued anymore even on long haul 15+hr flights.

dredmorbius 14y ago
Understand physiology and the body's response to training stimulus. A rowing machine is cardio (and it's good cardio), but, other than some very modest strength and hypertrophy response, you're not going to do much muscle development. My experience with it and kettlebell swings suggests that they may help with activation, particularly doing high-tension sets (damper set to 10, 20-40 pulls). Rowing pretty much is "the anti-desk", with the exception that you're performing the activity in a seated position. The main target is improving your cardiovascular performance, capability, and endurance. What strength training does specifically is recruit muscle motor units (bundles of muscle cells). These are differentiated largely by size and response time, and activating a given bundle requires triggering its controlling nerve. Higher loads trigger larger motor units. Stimulus is usually classified by sets, reps, percent of one rep maximum load (1RM), "tempo" (how long you take raising and lowering the weight), and power vs. strength lifts ("Olympic" lifts are, confusingly, based on power, "powerlifts" are, confusingly, based on strength). The strength training concept of "specificity" (also given as "SAID": specific adaptation to imposed demand) says that you'll get a training response that corresponds to the training stimulus. This means both the specific muscles, and type of lift determine the training response. If you want stronger legs, do squats, not bicep curls. If you want to get stronger, lift heavier (80-95% 1RM) weights for fewer reps. If you want endurance, lighter (30-50% 1RM) weights for more reps (15-20 or so). Hypertrophy (increased mass) is maximized by moderate resistance and reps maximizing time under tension. Wikipedia's Strength Training article summarizes this nicely: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training#Realization_of_training_goals http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training#Realization_o...

by _dps 14y ago

dredmorbius 14y ago

Understand physiology and the body's response to training stimulus. A rowing machine is cardio (and it's good cardio), but, other than some very modest strength and hypertrophy response, you're not going to do much muscle development. My experience with it and kettlebell swings suggests that they may help with activation, particularly doing high-tension sets (damper set to 10, 20-40 pulls). Rowing pretty much is "the anti-desk", with the exception that you're performing the activity in a seated position. The main target is improving your cardiovascular performance, capability, and endurance. What strength training does specifically is recruit muscle motor units (bundles of muscle cells). These are differentiated largely by size and response time, and activating a given bundle requires triggering its controlling nerve. Higher loads trigger larger motor units. Stimulus is usually classified by sets, reps, percent of one rep maximum load (1RM), "tempo" (how long you take raising and lowering the weight), and power vs. strength lifts ("Olympic" lifts are, confusingly, based on power, "powerlifts" are, confusingly, based on strength). The strength training concept of "specificity" (also given as "SAID": specific adaptation to imposed demand) says that you'll get a training response that corresponds to the training stimulus. This means both the specific muscles, and type of lift determine the training response. If you want stronger legs, do squats, not bicep curls. If you want to get stronger, lift heavier (80-95% 1RM) weights for fewer reps. If you want endurance, lighter (30-50% 1RM) weights for more reps (15-20 or so). Hypertrophy (increased mass) is maximized by moderate resistance and reps maximizing time under tension. Wikipedia's Strength Training article summarizes this nicely: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training#Realization_of_training_goals http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_training#Realization_o...