renewed interest in trad lifts

[Flambeur]

Originally Posted by Grayland

... Kettlebells are the rage and are almost always used in a whole body manner (snatch, C&J); I've yet to see anyone curl a KB.

Well I certainly hope so - that's a good thing. The only curls that work well with a KB are the crush curls.

 

[Flambeur]

By the way, I am waiting for the resurgence of BB side press.

 

[turbozed]

I've seen kids at my gym doing squats and OHP. However, they're squatting halfway and using the tampon.

The end result is that my powercage is more likely going to be inhabited with kids that know what exercises to do but not really how to do them. I sometimes want to intervene, but I don't want to be the annoying know-it-all at the gym. Makes me wince sometimes seeing those knees go way over the feet and the round back and the obviously unsafe weights.

 

[turbozed]

Originally Posted by HgaleK

As much hate as isolations get, I still have yet to find a compound exercise that engages my calves enough to leave them wasted after I'm done working out. My forearms feel it on back days, but they also recover pretty quickly. I can see calve raises and wrist curls both being justified... Or am I just missing out on a few key exercises that'll kick ******?

The real question is why you feel your calves need to engage and 'waste' your calves. Besides bodybuilding purposes, under what circumstances would your calves be a limiting muscle in any sport or lift?

 

[thekunk07]

calf raises are fine imo, i just use that as an example of what not to do when you have no training history under your belt and limited amount of time.

 

[thekunk07]

and i do seated bb side presses, while onlookers laugh.

 

[HgaleK]

Originally Posted by turbozed

The real question is why you feel your calves need to engage and 'waste' your calves. Besides bodybuilding purposes, under what circumstances would your calves be a limiting muscle in any sport or lift?
For purely aesthetic reasons. I don't like how imbalanced it looks having large quads and hamstrings while having relatively small calves. Weight lifting in general is like that for me though. The chances of me needing to dead lift a perfectly symmetrical heavy object 8 times are pretty slim. I'm probably not going to be encountering a bar on chest that needs to be lifted several times, and then several more times after a break. If I was looking for purely functional strength I'd train with asymmetrical objects doing movements that I encounter on a regular basis. I'd then do a lot of obstacle course work to ensure muscle coordination. Edit- actually, dead lifting and squats are two lifts that I find to be entirely practical. That first example of mine was a bad one.

 

[robertorex]

Originally Posted by HgaleK

For purely aesthetic reasons. I don't like how imbalanced it looks having large quads and hamstrings while having relatively small calves.

*shrug* I wear jeans almost all the time so it's not a huge issue for me.

 

[turbozed]

Originally Posted by HgaleK

Edit- actually, dead lifting and squats are two lifts that I find to be entirely practical. That first example of mine was a bad one.

Yeah, deadlifting is probably a bad example. It's one of the best for overall strength, lean mass gain, and even things like posture.

Nothing wrong with doing exercises for pure aesthetics, I was just under the impression that you thought the calf exercises were necessary with the traditional lift programs. Seems like you know what's up.

 

[robertorex]

Originally Posted by Flambeur

By the way, I am waiting for the resurgence of BB side press.
I did that for a while after reading pavel's power to the people. I got a few wtf stares from people. I think my brain will explode the day I walk into a commercial gym and see someone doing a turkish getup.

 

[jessetk313]

I been wanting to squat and deadlift for a while now but unfortunately have no one to show me and dont wanna go in lookin like a jackass and wind up hurt.

 

[scugger]

Yeah, I find that i need supplementary calf and forearm work with my 5x5 to stay balanced aesthetically. Most other muscle groups seem to be hit hard enough.

Originally Posted by HgaleK

As much hate as isolations get, I still have yet to find a compound exercise that engages my calves enough to leave them wasted after I'm done working out. My forearms feel it on back days, but they also recover pretty quickly. I can see calve raises and wrist curls both being justified... Or am I just missing out on a few key exercises that'll kick ******?

 

[turbozed]

Originally Posted by jessetk313

I been wanting to squat and deadlift for a while now but unfortunately have no one to show me and dont wanna go in lookin like a jackass and wind up hurt.

You can get a really good idea on how to do both of these lifts by just reading Starting Strength by Rippetoe. Also, there's some good tutorials online, search for "Squat RX" on youtube.

The key is to only worry about your form and nothing else until you're *certain* you've got it down. This means being OCD about it and doing it front of the mirror or wherever throughout the day randomly and really making the mechanics 2nd nature before you actually do it with a significant weight.

IMO it's very doable. It's the approach that matters.

 

[scugger]

I've seend some of those Squat RX vid and looked at some of those hip mobility exercises on stronglifts.com.

Do any of you guys do any exercises or stretches for the hip/hamstrings to help out your squats.

I reevaluated my squat form the other day and notice that my back stays super straight until I get 2-3 inches below parallel and then it rounds. Ideally I would like keep my back solidly straight down to ATG full squat. Any tips on this? Do you think this is just a flexibility issue?

 

[why]

Originally Posted by turbozed

I've seen kids at my gym doing squats and OHP. However, they're squatting halfway and using the tampon.

The end result is that my powercage is more likely going to be inhabited with kids that know what exercises to do but not really how to do them. I sometimes want to intervene, but I don't want to be the annoying know-it-all at the gym. Makes me wince sometimes seeing those knees go way over the feet and the round back and the obviously unsafe weights.

There's nothing wrong with that.