Ive been doing boxing/ different martial arts mon-thurs then trying to lift 1-3 times fri-sun while eating at a caloric surplus to try to gain mass and sleeping 7-10 hours a night. Do you think this is a good routine? Im at around 142 lbs and my goal is gain muscle mass while also being a good enough fighter for self defense
Then The routine is a good routine if you are legitimately adding numbers for your strength that you couldn’t do before and getting better at the skill.
this doesn’t mean it’s optimal, necessarily, and maybe could be improved upon. However I can’t do that if I don’t know what the specifics of the routine are.
If you have read the first intro to training post then the key concept and that is that you need to have a way to measure progress. If you are measuring progress and it’s working overtime based on the data you’re collecting then your routine is good enough to work. (Bc it objectively IS)
How do you fix bad posture? I don’t notice it when I’m walking/standing or in the mirror but when I see pictures of myself I see that I look kinda wimpy that way.
My neck and head juts foward and I feel like it makes my jaw seem weird.
Is there anything i should do to improve this?
I want to just stand up straight without looking dumb? Tips?
Also I have some shoulder and upper back pain when I play video games sometimes. Is this connected?
Posture is a part of joint health and therefore a part of foundational health. The fundamental baseline requirements for acceptable foundational health will be covered on Monday.
Posture will be briefly addressed because it deserves its own post and will be getting multiple of them in the future.
Quick actionable advice however is dead hangs from a bar, dumbbell cross bench pull overs for a weighted stretch, any type of rear delt and upper back pulls like rear delt flys, band pull aparts, Face pulls, etc.
A quick routine that you can do multiple times a week is a total two minute hang from a chin up bar. Three sets of a total A quick routine that you can do multiple times a week is a total two minute hang from a chin up bar. Three sets of One minute each of dumbbell pullovers with no more than 20% of your body weight (timed sets), trap three raise for three sets of 10 to 20, and band pull aparts for a total of 50-100 reps.
More detail and other additional work for specific issues will be added to the sub stack in the near future regarding neck posture, spinal issues and alignment, hip alignment, and shoulder/thoracic/lumbar spine health.
Weight loss is going to be covered in depth on Monday for Foundational Health. However, I will give you some help here so you can get the ball moving.
Fat loss will only occur if you are in a calorie deficit. This is the only way it can ever happen. All diets that "work" just means they created a calorie deficit through some strategy of food intake and exercise habits. When you achieved this before, you were able to cut down on total calorie intake through removing soda, less total food, and exercising with boxing.
Calories are the energy content of food. This is the energy that you are gaining from food when you eat/drink. There is also a certain amount of energy that you are using up - used for all your body function's; breathing, chewing, thinking, walking, talking, heart pumping, etc.
You're goal is to have a lower overall calorie intake than you use up at the end of each day/week.
There are many strategies to do this (We will be covering a lot on Monday and beyond) but here are some you can try:
1) Try starting each day with a long walk. (This can be done later as well but morning is ideal time to get blood flowing and getting sunlight) Try to walk for at least 20-30 minutes. This will help burn calories + improve health and energy for the day so you can...be more active to burn more calories!
2) I would start with cutting out every bit of processed food that you can. Any food with more than 4-5 ingredients on the nutrition label list is probably worth not eating. If you stick to things like rice, beef, turkey, chicken, green veggies, potatoes, etc. you will have a much harder time overeating. You can take this further by deliberately cutting portion sizes down to the size of your fist (or two fists if stomach growling a lot)
3) DO NOT drink calories. This means:
- no soda (drink *diet* soda if you want - this is perfectly acceptable in this case)
- no sugar or cream in coffee (if you can't drink it black just add as small splash of milk
- no alcohol
4) Weigh yourself every morning. By keeping track of your weight every day, you can notice if you are losing weight over the course of 2 weeks or not. (You will have some higher days and some lower days based on water/salt fluctuations so don't worry about being heavier one day than another -> the goal is that your average weight is trending downward over the course of approximately 2 weeks at a time.)
5) Focus on exercising at least 3 times a week. This does not need to be super formal or intense to start. But make an effort to say *3* times this week I did something to exercise my cardiovascular system moderately intensely for at least 20 minutes. (This is *on top* of your daily walking)
If you are following this every day but still not losing weight, then we know that one of these is not being done with enough volume. We will re-check all of this and adjust if you do not lose at least 1.5lbs in the next two weeks.
One of the issues I have is I’m focused on safety on both bench press and squats so I always have RIR on both exercises even though I have spotter arms. I have a garage gym only. What alternative exercises do you recommend or prefer?
On Twitter, you mentioned that there are other exercises you prefer given the goals .Almost bought a leg press/ hack squat combo What do you prefer over barbell squats? When I do travel, I actually feel like I get a better leg workout on these machines because of the safety factor and I can go to failure.
This isn’t medical advice but that generally sounds like you have a disc issue. There is a lot we can do with that so don’t get discouraged if it’s the case. (I have handled my disc issues many times and so have others)
Has this recently come up or has it been chronic for awhile?
Ive been doing boxing/ different martial arts mon-thurs then trying to lift 1-3 times fri-sun while eating at a caloric surplus to try to gain mass and sleeping 7-10 hours a night. Do you think this is a good routine? Im at around 142 lbs and my goal is gain muscle mass while also being a good enough fighter for self defense
Is it working? are you gaining strength on your lifts by successfully adding reps and weight that you couldn't before?
If I eat enough protein and calories than yes
Then The routine is a good routine if you are legitimately adding numbers for your strength that you couldn’t do before and getting better at the skill.
this doesn’t mean it’s optimal, necessarily, and maybe could be improved upon. However I can’t do that if I don’t know what the specifics of the routine are.
If you have read the first intro to training post then the key concept and that is that you need to have a way to measure progress. If you are measuring progress and it’s working overtime based on the data you’re collecting then your routine is good enough to work. (Bc it objectively IS)
How do you fix bad posture? I don’t notice it when I’m walking/standing or in the mirror but when I see pictures of myself I see that I look kinda wimpy that way.
My neck and head juts foward and I feel like it makes my jaw seem weird.
Is there anything i should do to improve this?
I want to just stand up straight without looking dumb? Tips?
Also I have some shoulder and upper back pain when I play video games sometimes. Is this connected?
Posture is a part of joint health and therefore a part of foundational health. The fundamental baseline requirements for acceptable foundational health will be covered on Monday.
Posture will be briefly addressed because it deserves its own post and will be getting multiple of them in the future.
Quick actionable advice however is dead hangs from a bar, dumbbell cross bench pull overs for a weighted stretch, any type of rear delt and upper back pulls like rear delt flys, band pull aparts, Face pulls, etc.
A quick routine that you can do multiple times a week is a total two minute hang from a chin up bar. Three sets of a total A quick routine that you can do multiple times a week is a total two minute hang from a chin up bar. Three sets of One minute each of dumbbell pullovers with no more than 20% of your body weight (timed sets), trap three raise for three sets of 10 to 20, and band pull aparts for a total of 50-100 reps.
More detail and other additional work for specific issues will be added to the sub stack in the near future regarding neck posture, spinal issues and alignment, hip alignment, and shoulder/thoracic/lumbar spine health.
I am struggling to loose 20lbs. I did it before with boxing portion control and no pop/soda. Any advice?
Tu
Weight loss is going to be covered in depth on Monday for Foundational Health. However, I will give you some help here so you can get the ball moving.
Fat loss will only occur if you are in a calorie deficit. This is the only way it can ever happen. All diets that "work" just means they created a calorie deficit through some strategy of food intake and exercise habits. When you achieved this before, you were able to cut down on total calorie intake through removing soda, less total food, and exercising with boxing.
Calories are the energy content of food. This is the energy that you are gaining from food when you eat/drink. There is also a certain amount of energy that you are using up - used for all your body function's; breathing, chewing, thinking, walking, talking, heart pumping, etc.
You're goal is to have a lower overall calorie intake than you use up at the end of each day/week.
There are many strategies to do this (We will be covering a lot on Monday and beyond) but here are some you can try:
1) Try starting each day with a long walk. (This can be done later as well but morning is ideal time to get blood flowing and getting sunlight) Try to walk for at least 20-30 minutes. This will help burn calories + improve health and energy for the day so you can...be more active to burn more calories!
2) I would start with cutting out every bit of processed food that you can. Any food with more than 4-5 ingredients on the nutrition label list is probably worth not eating. If you stick to things like rice, beef, turkey, chicken, green veggies, potatoes, etc. you will have a much harder time overeating. You can take this further by deliberately cutting portion sizes down to the size of your fist (or two fists if stomach growling a lot)
3) DO NOT drink calories. This means:
- no soda (drink *diet* soda if you want - this is perfectly acceptable in this case)
- no sugar or cream in coffee (if you can't drink it black just add as small splash of milk
- no alcohol
4) Weigh yourself every morning. By keeping track of your weight every day, you can notice if you are losing weight over the course of 2 weeks or not. (You will have some higher days and some lower days based on water/salt fluctuations so don't worry about being heavier one day than another -> the goal is that your average weight is trending downward over the course of approximately 2 weeks at a time.)
5) Focus on exercising at least 3 times a week. This does not need to be super formal or intense to start. But make an effort to say *3* times this week I did something to exercise my cardiovascular system moderately intensely for at least 20 minutes. (This is *on top* of your daily walking)
If you are following this every day but still not losing weight, then we know that one of these is not being done with enough volume. We will re-check all of this and adjust if you do not lose at least 1.5lbs in the next two weeks.
One of the issues I have is I’m focused on safety on both bench press and squats so I always have RIR on both exercises even though I have spotter arms. I have a garage gym only. What alternative exercises do you recommend or prefer?
On Twitter, you mentioned that there are other exercises you prefer given the goals .Almost bought a leg press/ hack squat combo What do you prefer over barbell squats? When I do travel, I actually feel like I get a better leg workout on these machines because of the safety factor and I can go to failure.
Ask this in This week's Q&A please - thank you
Does the pain show up while performing the exercise? Does it go away after you stop?
Does it show up after training? Does it linger or is it relieved or increases from certain movements outside of training?
Ie. Example 1: you are doing a good morning and during the lift one side of your back hurts -> it hurts after the lift and lingers or it goes away?
Example 2: you perform the lifts and then later that day or the next you notice discomfort in your back?
Cat/cow causes pain?
And also does it cause pain when you flex the spine or extend it or both?
This isn’t medical advice but that generally sounds like you have a disc issue. There is a lot we can do with that so don’t get discouraged if it’s the case. (I have handled my disc issues many times and so have others)
Has this recently come up or has it been chronic for awhile?