Ladies Who Lift...
1 lurker |
95 watchers
Aug 2023
12:13pm, 4 Aug 2023
2,055 posts
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Homeless Kodo
Squat: Squats without any weight (whether you call them air squats or body weight squats they’re the same thing) are a good place to start, slow, controlled & as low as possible without losing your lumbar spine position. Just squat to a bench/chair to start with. If you’re looking to use weight I t end to steer beginners towards Goblet Squats as they teach the trunk control required for Back Squats at a later date & are relatively easy to learn. Hip Hinge. Bridge, the good old humble Yoga/Pilates exercise is a super way to learn to get your glute max & upper hamstrings working together, make sure you pause at the top & squeeze the glute max hard before lowering. There are 3 more advanced levels to the Bridge so plenty of room to increase it. If you’re looking for a weighted exercise the Hip Thruster is, pretty much, just a weighted Table Top bridge. Deadlifts are generally considered the big boss of hip hinge, maybe something to work towards. Single Leg. Used to minimise the difference in strength between legs. Lunge, static squat are good places to start. I’d advise against trying some of the advanced single leg stuff like Pistol, shrimp or Hawaiian squats. Push/Pull. There are 2 types of push/pull: horizontal & vertical. It’s generally considered good practice to pair horizontal push with horizontal pull & vertical push with vertical pull. In reality it is better but doesn’t make an enormous amount of difference if you pair horizontal & vertical together. Vertical push is a bit difficult to do with body weight. You can either do wall walks or pike press but they require significant shoulder strength & balls of steel to do, so I tend not to do these with beginners. The good old dumbbell or barbell overhead press is a good way to start. Vertical pull, you got this covered with pull ups/ chin ups I forget which version you use. There’s also the Lat Pull down, but you need a cable machine for that. Horizontal push are the old staples of press up or bench press. If you can’t do 15+ press ups from the floor move your hands to a stable, secure elevated platform that’s high enough to allow you to get to 15 press ups. As you improve lower the height. I steer everyone away from knee press ups as they negate the need for pelvic stability required to do a full body length press up & the increase in lever length going from knees to toes requires a massive leap in strength to perform a press up. Horizontal pull probably a bent over row with either a bar or dumbbell is your best bet here, which I think you’re already doing. Body weight version is the inverted row aka the Aussie Pull Up. It’s best to prioritise your largest muscle groups, the exercises with the greatest risk & most complex lifts at the start of your session when you are freshest. It reduces the risk of injury & or death. Generally that’s lower body exercises and exercises where the risk of dropping the weight on yourself is highest first. For example, squats before deadlifts before bench press before bent over rows. Squats & deadlifts use the same muscle groups slightly differently but squats’ll crush you if they go wrong whereas you can just drop the bar with deadlifts. Deadlifts are slightly more complex than bench press and use larger muscles. Bench press is riskier than bent over row because of the risk of dropping the bar on your throat. A beginners rep scheme would be 3 sets of 15 reps with a weight you can use for 17-18 reps for each exercise with a rest period of 30-60 seconds between reps. CW it would be inadvisable for you to try those kind of explosive, power development exercises yet. They’re really quite advanced. If you’ve not developed a basic level of strength & movement quality the risk of injury is high. |
Aug 2023
12:26pm, 4 Aug 2023
42,101 posts
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SPR
I was reminded of this that I posted previously. I'm always thinking that a lower rep scheme is where you need to be at but I forget that I didn't start there. You're at the first level CW as HK alludes to. Also progressing past the base bit (with potentially more exercises) might not be necessary. |
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Aug 2023
12:32pm, 4 Aug 2023
42,102 posts
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SPR
Press, squat, deadlift. Presume you're referring to shoulder/ overhead press Raptors claws are coming to town and Have yourself Musashi lil Christmas? Interesting as it's not one I'd have picked on first instint, although as the person that asked the question, I hadn't decided on my three yet. Also interesting that you'd keep it above one of squat/ deadlift of dropping to 2 HK and that neither would feature if you dropped to one. |
Aug 2023
12:35pm, 4 Aug 2023
64,789 posts
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Velociraptor
I'd go for bench rather than overhead press if I had to pick one, SPR.
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Aug 2023
12:38pm, 4 Aug 2023
42,103 posts
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SPR
In that case, it's the three I'd have expected most commonly from a general strength perspective but wondered if people would think differently for running. Maybe HK meant the same as well.
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Aug 2023
1:19pm, 4 Aug 2023
2,056 posts
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Homeless Kodo
Standing overhead/military/shoulder press for me. It’s ground reactive & requires greater upper/lower body coordination than bench so has more carry over to running despite bench being a horizontal push which is closer to running arm movement. Overhead requires greater abdominal strength recruitment than bench & if you go to a single dumbbell version it’ll bring in greater abdominal recruitment because of the increased stabilisation requirement from lateral & rotational forces, which has applicability to running. It’s easier to cheat the weight up on bench than on overhead so the strength development is generally greater on overhead. Bench is a superb mass builder, which isn’t a great thing for distance runners, though for those of us over 40 it could well be seen as a benefit in aiding to stave off sarcopaenia. Some of the abdominal recruitment issues & linking upper-lower body can be overcome by benching like a powerlifter. I’d keep it in in the 2 lift option because I think the benefits listed above outweigh the combination of lower body exercises. I believe the TGU is one of the most underrated & underused exercises largely because it develops whole body strength and whole body coordination. Because it’s such a complicated lift using so many movement patterns and planes of motion it involves every muscle. I appreciate it’s not the best single exercise for pure strength development, it compromises that with the overhead stabilisation and lunge component of the exercise. But in my opinion that strength sacrifice is worth it for the whole body involvement. |
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Aug 2023
1:21pm, 4 Aug 2023
64,790 posts
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Velociraptor
Since every book about running includes a chapter of illustrated small resistance exercises rather than "bench, squat, deadlift, eat" I would in theory expect a different consensus, but would estimate that the amount of benefit per unit of time and fatigue is greater for heavy compound lifts. If I was a good distance runner in my 20s or early 30s I might say, "Forget that shit, go and run up some hills." |
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Aug 2023
1:21pm, 4 Aug 2023
2,057 posts
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Homeless Kodo
I’m going to shut up now. Feels like I’m taking over the thread. Sorry!!!
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Aug 2023
1:30pm, 4 Aug 2023
45,332 posts
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EvilPixie
oh no HK and SPR and indeed everyone I am enjoying the talk please continue
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Aug 2023
1:33pm, 4 Aug 2023
11,431 posts
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Fragile Do Not Bend
I’m finding your input interesting HK so no need to shut up  The bit about shoulder vs bench press particularly. I know it can be made more challenging by standing on one leg or doing a bottom up kettlebell press. |
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