Stupid Questions Thread

[slowmotion]

1. I do loads of warm up sets. Probably saves me from getting hurt more often.

3. Straight barbell curls are fine. I don't know why people have problems with them.

[michael]

The barbell also stops the ROM early at the bottom and then the excessive wrist rotation prevents the last bit of ROM at the top. The curl bar gives back some wrist neutrality to allow for the ROM at the top. Dumbbells allow for full ROM at the bottom.

Meh. Biceps are unlikely to experience stretch-mediated hypertrophy, so any consistent ROM should be fine.

[perman]

This thread features more answers than questions. I feel like people aren't acting in the spirit of the thread, so I'll try to contribute to the stupidity instead:
- I feel like chin-ups drop disproportionally if I just increase slightly in weight. So should there be a difference between how well I can chin if I weigh 85 kg and add 5 kg vs just weighing 90 kg? I feel like I do chin-ups better in the former case.

I wonder if there's some sort of nocebo-effect in my chinning ability when I weigh more or whether the uneven distribution of weight on a body makes heavier bodies more like odd-object lifting as opposed to the weight being situated in the center of balance of the belt...

[Particle]

I think a slight swinging of the weight when doing weighted chins makes them harder. I usually try to jam the plate between my thighs or behind my legs to make the whole body-plate system more rigid. Then weighted feel more like body weight chins, only heavier

[JonnyRockets]

behind my legs

SpoilerShow

[Particle]

Exactly, only I use much more weight!

[nealstar]

I keep having an urge to run an "I Love the 90s" program where I alternate Dorian Yates "program" and Ed Coan's intermediate program over 4-6 months. Anybody wanna tell me why it's a good or bad idea?

[Stenson]

Potentially stupid question.

How important is greasing the groove on the deadlift? I've been thinking of just doing one top single and then RDLs for back-off sets.

I'd say it depends on how long you've been training, and also whether you pull sumo or conventional. If you're relatively inexperienced, more practice is always good. And sumo is more technical than conventional.

[nealstar]

A lot of folks try to get in near as much shoulder extension as shoulder flexion. I don't mean to "balance" the movement patterns for "shoulder health" or whatever. I just mean folks tend to keep a fair amount of horizontal and/or vertical pulling in their programs

But I never hear anyone talking about getting in a lot of hip flexion despite all the hip extension work we do. Should we all be doing more Leg Raises or whatnot alongside our Squats and Deads?

[chrisd]

A lot of folks try to get in near as much shoulder extension as shoulder flexion. I don't mean to "balance" the movement patterns for "shoulder health" or whatever. I just mean folks tend to keep a fair amount of horizontal and/or vertical pulling in their programs

But I never hear anyone talking about getting in a lot of hip flexion despite all the hip extension work we do. Should we all be doing more Leg Raises or whatnot alongside our Squats and Deads?

Yes, yes we should.

You think you're all big and strong and then you have to do a simple thing like raise a leg in the air and suddenly it's really hard. Some small person does it and you're all like

"Oh well it's easy for you because you're light whereas I have these really big strong muscles that are really heavy"

Fact is, you just aren't as strong as you thought you were.

A simple standing leg raise above vertical should not be too much of a challenge. Weighted versions can be done with a cable machine and the ankle loop. Be sure to maintain good posture and put one hand on your hip as you point your toes.

[psmith]

Yes, yes we should.

You think you're all big and strong and then you have to do a simple thing like raise a leg in the air and suddenly it's really hard. Some small person does it and you're all like

"Oh well it's easy for you because you're light whereas I have these really big strong muscles that are really heavy"

Fact is, you just aren't as strong as you thought you were.

A simple standing leg raise above vertical should not be too much of a challenge. Weighted versions can be done with a cable machine and the ankle loop. Be sure to maintain good posture and put one hand on your hip as you point your toes.

lol wut

[OCG]

Yes, yes we should.

You think you're all big and strong and then you have to do a simple thing like raise a leg in the air and suddenly it's really hard. Some small person does it and you're all like

"Oh well it's easy for you because you're light whereas I have these really big strong muscles that are really heavy"

Fact is, you just aren't as strong as you thought you were.

A simple standing leg raise above vertical should not be too much of a challenge. Weighted versions can be done with a cable machine and the ankle loop. Be sure to maintain good posture and put one hand on your hip as you point your toes.

lol wut

Man has a point.

[psmith]

I'm picturing that "I'm sure to win because my speed is superior" MS Paint comic but with raising your leg above parallel to the ground.

IDK, I've ridden dirt bikes turning with the inside foot out and high-stepped over downed trees in muddy boots and never felt like I needed to train hip flexion beyond the occasional desultory set of decline situps or hanging leg raises, and goose-stepping in place while hooked to a cable machine by ankle slings so that I can one day match a skinny guy in a leg-lift-off is just not even on my training radar, and I don't know what could possibly put it there. Maybe I'm just being autistic and it was a joke.

(ETA: no, come to think of it, I tried the ankle sling thing once when I was trying to rehab some kind of groin strain. Didn't seem to do a damn thing, but I did try it.).

[cole]

this thread got a lot of attention!

1- i prefer to side with using more as opposed to less, my working sets usually feel better when i do, plus like @cwd i lift in a cold garage (even though its not that bad bc colorado has perfect weather) since when did SS promote lengthy warmups? ive always thought they were very reasonable with that. my warmups look something like this:

bench: barx10, 95x10, 135x5, 185x5, 225x1, then worksets (unless im hitting a top single in which case ill ramp up with a few singles)
squat & DL: barx10, 135x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x1 ......work

2- i always unload the bar, i even get mad when my wife leaves the puny 25's on. i spent almost 300 bucks on my OPB and i want it respected

3 - i do curls about twice a year so...straight bars hurt my elbows, but i think they are better than DB's

[chrisd]

I'm picturing that "I'm sure to win because my speed is superior" MS Paint comic but with raising your leg above parallel to the ground.

IDK, I've ridden dirt bikes turning with the inside foot out and high-stepped over downed trees in muddy boots and never felt like I needed to train hip flexion beyond the occasional desultory set of decline situps or hanging leg raises, and goose-stepping in place while hooked to a cable machine by ankle slings so that I can one day match a skinny guy in a leg-lift-off is just not even on my training radar, and I don't know what could possibly put it there. Maybe I'm just being autistic and it was a joke.

(ETA: no, come to think of it, I tried the ankle sling thing once when I was trying to rehab some kind of groin strain. Didn't seem to do a damn thing, but I did try it.).

Sorta joking, but...

If you start with the premise that Strength is the most important factor in fitness "(the others being, cardio vascular, muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition) you may rightly deride someone who doesn't squat to depth because of their 'mobility' or segment lengths or some other excuse. If you take a different movement, which doesn't involve moving a barbell up and down, suddenly it's just a matter of balance, mobility, bodyweight or some other excuse. When challenged on their inability, the bulk brigade then describe the movement as pointless and anyone who can do it has their sexual orientation questioned.

Question: Is it worth giving time to the barbell press. The hard part is getting it past your head. Once you've learned to keep the bar path correct, it's the same as a dumbbell press, but easier because the bar supports the hands and so you need to use less muscle. Surely this makes the dumbbell press a better exercise ?

[mgil]

Dumbbell pressing allows for greater ROM and potentially involves more muscle mass since the humerus can rotate more. However, dumbbells are supposedly not able to be incrementally loaded despite those clever magnet things so the barbell is better.

[mgil]

I keep having an urge to run an "I Love the 90s" program where I alternate Dorian Yates "program" and Ed Coan's intermediate program over 4-6 months. Anybody wanna tell me why it's a good or bad idea?

It’ll probably work fine, especially if you run a “I Love the 90s” stack and cycle along with it.

[nealstar]

I keep having an urge to run an "I Love the 90s" program where I alternate Dorian Yates "program" and Ed Coan's intermediate program over 4-6 months. Anybody wanna tell me why it's a good or bad idea?

It’ll probably work fine, especially if you run a “I Love the 90s” stack and cycle along with it.

I presume you mean tilapia and sweet potatoes.

[5hout]

I got a chin-up bar for in my house and bands. Time to fix my can't chin-up problem. Anyone have thoughts on if it's better to band so you can do (say) 5 sets of 4 at a hard effort, or band so you can bang out sets of 5-8?

EDIT: My plan is to do 5 sets of 4, banded so hard but not impossible, do at least 3-4 unassisted negatives every Tu/Th/Sat.

[Skander]

I got a chin-up bar for in my house and bands. Time to fix my can't chin-up problem. Anyone have thoughts on if it's better to band so you can do (say) 5 sets of 4 at a hard effort, or band so you can bang out sets of 5-8?

EDIT: My plan is to do 5 sets of 4, banded so hard but not impossible, do at least 3-4 unassisted negatives every Tu/Th/Sat.

You should just do the ol AMRAP every time you walk through the door method. Got me to 25 (not real, was also 165 pounds) chins over a summer... Though would probably kill anyone over 30.