Strength / Weight Training

Hyrox?

It has crossed my mind.....

do it, they're fun

have done 4 - they're the right balance of anyone being able to complete them, but quite a lot of work to get them done quickly. I'm fairly well suited to them - have gone around in 65mins (open weights, not 'pro') which is enough to get me champs qualifications, but still a few mins off a podium. always get tempted to see if I can find those few minutes, but then get sidetracked with random other gym/running stuff

happy to waffle a bit if curious

New year training off to a great start, nearly fell back down the loft hatch and strained my right shoulder/forearm/thumb. It could have been worse, time to focus on squats!

A goal this year is to take part in one and complete in under 80mins. What's a good way to get a sense of what your time might be?

@Tenderloin
I generally do the runs at a bit slower than my half marathon pace - last time I did London - https://results.hyrox.com/season-6/?content=detail&fpid=list&pid=list&idp=JGDMS4JI9091C&lang=EN_CAP&event=H_JGDMS4JI62E

Don't go all out on the ski erg (it's too soon into the race to be red lining anything) or the row erg (any time you save by hammering it you'll just lose on the run after) - treat those both as 'steady' and add ~20-30s to get to the machines, sit down, strap your feet in etc.
So my 4:17 row was, ballpark, 1k @ 1:55/500m plus 27s get in/sit/get started/stand up/leave.

burpees will fuck you up. it just rockets the HR with all the jumping up/down when you're already fatigued. sled push/pull just practice a little in the gym too - likewise a bit of hopping on the treadmill to get used to running when your legs are burning. farmers carry, lunges, wall balls... all just a bit of practice really. wall balls is a bit of a chore at the end, mentally as much as anything as 100 just feels like loads by that point. get used to the technique and being sure you're squatting enough that they don't no-rep you.

But by the time you've estimated roughly 8k at half marathon-ish pace, and a steady/robust ski and rower ticked off, plus 5mins of cumulative in/out faffing in the 'roxzone' (the dead time between coming off the run course and getting to the entrance to the workout) then you've got a rough idea of what 11 of 17 of the timed segments. Then just work on the rest in the gym.

And then you'll improve the 2nd, 3rd time etc. you do them.
Think I did 73mins, 71mins, 67mins, 65mins. I was a better runner, but not 8mins better - half of the time improvement was probably just learning to pace myself slightly better (or just knowing I could go a bit harder than I had before)

Gym noob so apols for the lack of correct terminology here.

These machines that are like a cage but the bar runs on sliders and they have the ratchet kind of thing, I take it they are to make squatting/bench pressing without a spotter a bit safer? Are they worth using or do they restrict movement too much?

For squats I think I can get most of it with leg press anyway? And I’m sure they are other pulley type machines where I could replicate the bench press too?

That's the smith machine and yep, the general idea is safety. They can be useful if you're training alone although they do put you into a slightly different movement pattern.

If you're starting out I think it's good to first learn with free weights if you can. You could try goblet squats using a dumbbell, kettlebell or weight plate if you don't have access to a squat rack. Bulgarian split squats are also pretty good and don't require much weight.

You could bench press in a smith machine as well as a cable station if you moved a bench into place, although the latter might be a bit of a bugger to set up and get the cables into place. Press ups and dips are both pretty good depending on what equipment you have.

Like @tomatoe said, called a Smith machine. I totally agree that free weight movements are better for any and all athletic purposes.

All I'll add is that Smith machines can be great for hypertrophy (muscle building). You can push your muscles closer to failure without technique or stability being a limiter. You can also put yourself into positions on a compound (multi-muscle) lift you could never balance with a barbell (e.g. feet far forward of your central of balance for squatting). They're just a tool, I wouldn't rely on them exclusively but a lot of people dismiss them with absolute prejudice unnecessarily.

Like @tomatoe said, called a Smith machine. I totally agree that free weight movements are better for any and all athletic purposes.

All I'll add is that Smith machines can be great for hypertrophy (muscle building). You can push your muscles closer to failure without technique or stability being a limiter. You can also put yourself into positions on a compound (multi-muscle) lift you could never balance with a barbell (e.g. feet far forward of your central of balance for squatting). They're just a tool, I wouldn't rely on them exclusively but a lot of people dismiss them with absolute prejudice unnecessarily.

With regards to the leg press, a Smith machine squat will also help build your low back and abdominal strength whereas a leg press is leg-only. But would you be better doing a leg press and then a separate movement for back strength? Possibly.

@Ptown and @tomatoe thank you, gives me something to think about in terms of using them to do what I couldn’t do without them rather than just using them as a crutch, as it were, when I don’t have a spotter.

I’m thinking as I go more often my confidence in lifting without a spotter will grow out at least I’ll have more of an idea how much to pull back on the weight if I’m by myself.

I’ll also have a look at what I can do to work my back if I do leg press over squats.

Cheers.

Beginner here also and I got quite good at the leg press but it didn’t really transfer to squats as stability/back strength was weak. Quite humbling, and I’m focusing on squats now with some accessories.

Also, see if your squat rack has safety bars and practice putting the weight down onto them a couple of times - good to know what to do in case you fail a set.

If you have a Smith machine use it for a bit, but it won't be the same. So when you come to switch over it will feel a bit odd. But neuroplasticity and changes and everything are good for people, especially as we get older. And we are. Let's face it. It's not 2010.

If you're worried about squatting with free weights, yep do goblets and kettlebells and all of that.
But also all the gym bros who might be putting you off all had to start somewhere.
So you could just put an empty barbell on your back and get going without thinking "I must lift xkg by day 7".

Just put it on your back, do some squats, notice how you move, think does it feel right? Put a little more on, does it still feel ok, etc etc. Soon you'll be throwing 200kg around wondering what all the fuss was about.

This guy
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRLOLGZl3-QTaJfLmAKgoAw
Alan Thrall is someone who went on the Starting Strength Barbell Medicine Journey to being a strongman and is now trying / succeeding at being someone who lifts shit and runs fast. His videos are great (I think). He's very much not a wrongbro (i think).

Others have covered things well.

One thing I’ll add is that people are pretty much always happy to spot you - I’ve found gyms to be some of the friendliest and supportive places out there. I know it can be a little daunting but I’d encourage it.

Yes, so much this! Most people will be really happy that you've chosen them to ask to help. Just communicate clearly how/when you'd like them to step in beforehand.

Hadn’t seen him before. Thanks for the share

Yes that is important!

I find smith smashine is great for heavy seated shoulder OHP. Less likely to rip some small supporting rotator or ancillary muscle when pressing 80

He's fucking great.
"DON'T MOVE THE BAR"

(plus he's not a weirdo like starting strength guy)

First morning back today & it was a bit of a shock to the system, was hoping that after a couple of weeks of complete rest my elbow would have eased up, but if anything it's worse - seems that doing anything is better than nothing in my case.

Before Christmas I decided to knock back the weight & try to make up the difference in reps, seems manageable & i'm not worrying about dropping anything or aggravating an ever increasing list of niggles... Been interesting looking back at the total volume, doing 3x drop sets at ~85/75/65% of 1rm to within a couple of reps of failure shifts almost 40% more weight than 3x6 heavy sets of the same exercises, didn't think it would be that much of a difference - perceived effort is less, if anything, which means there's probably scope for gradually increasing the weight as long as I can still grind out 8+ reps of each.

As always i'm probably over thinking this, but with limited time & injuries i'm trying to find the balance that will allow progress with lest risk of fucking anything up further.

@Chalfie Hadn't seen him before, - actaually quite relatable, I find many youtube lifting experts are hard to watch / listen to or even instantly dislikeable but I like this guy - ta!

Alan is the tits. I feel like he embraced all of that Rippetoe bizness, then "did his own research" without getting into being a "ALPAH MAN", ran his own bizness, and is doing fine thanks.
Not 100% I'd agree on all his politics but I don't think he'd call me a liberal cuck.

I’ve always found the sets/reps vs weight comparison not particularly helpful, when considering total volume. Too many different levers.

• An extra rep on deadlift skews the volume very differently than an extra rep on flys
  
• An extra 80% deadlift rep has a different training load/stress vs an 80% fly
  
  

That being said, I’m now using an app (Hevy) to track numbers which has been very helpful and interesting, a few more cycles and I may find some correlations that I couldn’t see before. I’d love for it to display a 1RM calc for each set, that could reduce the number of variables

This is really cool as, serendipitously, for the past two months I've been doing a single dropset to failure (2-3x 20% drops) on each of my assistance movements rather than straight sets to save time and hopefully reduce wear and tear a bit too! Came recommended from the 'data driven' crowd and definitely don't feel like I'm suffering for it. I mean, Im suffering in the moment for sure, but not gains-wise.

Yeah - the swords on the wall behind him in the first video I watch were a slight red flag but seems like a good guy.

Yeah, total volume isn't the most important factor - I just like looking at the numbers - when I was regularly doing 3x3 heavy sets for bench/squat/row/ohp the total volume wasn't much, but from a strength perspective I wouldn't get near those numbers now & I was ruined after each session.

I use the Strong app (free version) & that has a 1rm estimate - seemed pretty accurate as far as I remember, as a lot of my sets at the time were 3x or 2x & the 1rm estimate was just a few kg higher.

@Ptown yeah, I think I get preoccupied with trying to add weight too often rather than when it feels too light - one of Alan Thrall's vids I just watched made this very useful point - so i'm often right on the limit which leads to an increasing list of mysterious niggles & constant fatigue.

I seen a Lee Priest (bodybuilder) video pop up recently & he spoke about people asking about his 1rm, said he had no idea as he never went anywhere near it for fear of injury. Unless you're going into powerlifting competitions or have a specific goal it probably doesn't make much difference if you drop the weight a little and add a rep or two.

That said, I still want a 100kg bench / 140kg squat this year, haha!