Stupid Questions Thread

[ChasingCurls69]

Say you were a runner, and liked to run all over town, sometimes up in the mountains, and you had an atrophied posterior chain. You have limited time to train due to running so much. Which movement is better in isolation: the squat or the deadlift?

Any sort of deadlift.

[Hardartery]

Say you were a runner, and liked to run all over town, sometimes up in the mountains, and you had an atrophied posterior chain. You have limited time to train due to running so much. Which movement is better in isolation: the squat or the deadlift?

RDL's or Good Mornings. Zercher DL would be my third choice (Not Zercher Lift or Zercher Squat, DL from the floor). Plain DL are next, but I would do Nordic Hamstring Curls first.

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

@EggMcMuffin RDLs in sets of 5-10 reps is what you want.

[aurelius]

Say you were a runner, and liked to run all over town, sometimes up in the mountains, and you had an atrophied posterior chain. You have limited time to train due to running so much. Which movement is better in isolation: the squat or the deadlift?

I like 3x10 RDL's. Totally sandbag on the weight when you start. Like super light. Lift like a bodybuilder: focus on range of motion and tempo. Slowly add weight over time.
--Range of motion should be as low as you can go without rounding your lower back. I like to do a wider grip for RDL's than my conventional deadlift grip for greater range of motion. You should feel a "tightness" in your hamstrings during the lower portion of the eccentric movement.
--Tempo should be a controlled descent with a faster concentric (not fast though). Like a 2-0-1 or 3-0-1. Don't worry about the specifics. It should be a controlled, intentional movement throughout.
--don't let grip be a limiting factor. Use straps if your grip becomes an issue.

I've struggled with lower back issues and deadlift volume for years. So much so that I just cut out deadlift volume. Start of the year took the above approach (I work up to a single heavy set of 3 on deadlift then do 3x10 RDL for volume on back day). I started at 135 and have worked up to 225. Lower back feels fantastic.

*I will also add I am a fan of BW reverse hypers. I throw in a 3x15 set at the end of my conditioning day once per week.

[AuthenticWacky]

Do you see any reason NOT to spread accessory/bro work throughout the day? I work at home and am a home gymmer (that's not a word). Pretty easy high-rep work 4-5 times a day. Gets me out of my chair and lets me get a little more volume in than during regular sessions, as time/energy can be limited first thing in the morning.

[broseph]

Do you see any reason NOT to spread accessory/bro work throughout the day? I work at home and am a home gymmer (that's not a word). Pretty easy high-rep work 4-5 times a day. Gets me out of my chair and lets me get a little more volume in than during regular sessions, as time/energy can be limited first thing in the morning.

Pretty sure @Renascent has done this... Check his log out if he doesn't see this.

[DCR]

Do you see any reason NOT to spread accessory/bro work throughout the day? I work at home and am a home gymmer (that's not a word). Pretty easy high-rep work 4-5 times a day. Gets me out of my chair and lets me get a little more volume in than during regular sessions, as time/energy can be limited first thing in the morning.

Assuming one avoids overuse issues with the joints, I think that this would be actively helpful if one has the ability and mental wherewithal to do it, which apparently you do.

[dw]

Do you see any reason NOT to spread accessory/bro work throughout the day? I work at home and am a home gymmer (that's not a word). Pretty easy high-rep work 4-5 times a day. Gets me out of my chair and lets me get a little more volume in than during regular sessions, as time/energy can be limited first thing in the morning.

As I understand it and I think following common sense as well, no.

It's equivalent to taking very long rests between sets. The only complication it introduces is that if your volume is calibrated to normal rest intervals and you are keeping RPE the same you will be doing more work than you were before, which should be too much if you had it right in the first place.

So for example if you do sets to absolute failure doing 3 sets with 5 minutes rest between them should be a lot less stimulating than 3 sets with 1 hour of rest between them.

[Renascent]

Do you see any reason NOT to spread accessory/bro work throughout the day? I work at home and am a home gymmer (that's not a word). Pretty easy high-rep work 4-5 times a day. Gets me out of my chair and lets me get a little more volume in than during regular sessions, as time/energy can be limited first thing in the morning.

Pretty sure @Renascent has done this... Check his log out if he doesn't see this.

Yep. If I can keep my timing the way I want it, I'll do chores between sets: wash dishes, clean house, sometimes cook, and work the remote gig.

I just try to keep a head count of my water, protein, and caloric intake throughout the day; only other thing I worry about is getting enough rest and listening to my body when appropriate.

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

Do you see any reason NOT to spread accessory/bro work throughout the day? I work at home and am a home gymmer (that's not a word). Pretty easy high-rep work 4-5 times a day. Gets me out of my chair and lets me get a little more volume in than during regular sessions, as time/energy can be limited first thing in the morning.

There is a dude called Mickael Gundill who has been training like that for the last 20 years. He has a house with around 100 machines (I am not joking, its kind of insane), and he basically trains all day long, with sometimes hours between set. And he's absolutely jacked. Look him up on Youtube he makes interesting content.

[ChrisMcCarthy1979]

Once I got used to that kind of set up with accessories I think I wouldn't be afraid to do at least some of my "main" exercises that way.

[psmith]

Say you were a runner, and liked to run all over town, sometimes up in the mountains, and you had an atrophied posterior chain. You have limited time to train due to running so much. Which movement is better in isolation: the squat or the deadlift?

Single leg DLs (or RDLs, I guess) are pretty based for running injury prevention and limited recovery cost, though I don't reckon they'll do that much for hypertrophy.

[EggMcMuffin]

@psmith I squatted the other day for the first time in like, well over a year and I think I'll just stick with squats. When I was training for my first marathon I got my deadlift back to like 395lbs for a single at 162lbs (this was in late November, I think) but it just didn't make me feel like I was "strong" or anything. It seems to me that the squat basically touches on every single muscle group in the posterior chain and a bunch of little weird ones that you don't notice. I got DOMS in all the places that I got when I ran a trail half marathon, so it seems like a better bet.

The real reason I'm going for squats though is my garage floor is not level, and I don't know how to fix that, lmao. I hate having 200+lbs constantly rolling away from me, sometimes in the middle of the lift

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

@EggMcMuffin RDLs solve the problem of uneven flooring because the plates don't touch the floor.

[DCR]

I squatted the other day for the first time in like, well over a year and I think I'll just stick with squats. When I was training for my first marathon I got my deadlift back to like 395lbs for a single at 162lbs (this was in late November, I think) but it just didn't make me feel like I was "strong" or anything. It seems to me that the squat basically touches on every single muscle group in the posterior chain and a bunch of little weird ones that you don't notice. I got DOMS in all the places that I got when I ran a trail half marathon, so it seems like a better bet.

This reminded me of how, back in the day, all the muscle mags (and most especially Iron Man) would on a monthly basis go back and forth on insisting that squats... wait no deadlifts... actually squats... for sure deadlifts... were the ultimate movement. Every article on one or the other would insist that if you didn't do the particular movement, you were destined for eternal pussy-dom, nevermind that a month prior the magazine had said that same thing about the other movement.

The actual answer should have been squats.

That said, IMO the answer to your personal query remains deficit deadlifts.