
Hacking strength: Gaining muscle with least resistance - jergason
http://matt.might.net/articles/hacking-strength/
======
lutze
Some of this is terrible advice.

You want strength, you do high weight, low rep sets of compound barbell lifts.

Dumbbells are a body-building tool, not a strength building one.

Press machines are horrid horrid horrid. At best they don't target the
important stabilizing muscles that compound lifts are supposed to. At worst
they can pull your movements into unnatural ranges of motion, causing lasting
damage to your joints.

If you have no one to spot you, buy a power rack. It'll work out cheaper, and
you'll be better off.

Honestly though, the best way to get in shape is not to MAKE yourself
exercise, it's to find something that you ENJOY and do that. Judo, BJJ,
boxing, squash, tennis, football, badminton... join a sports club, have fun,
and you won't even notice yourself getting fitter.

~~~
DenisM
Also, yoga. It's ubiquitous, you can start small, and although you may, you
don't have to interact with people so it's a great stepping stone for a shy
person.

~~~
tomjen3
What do you get out of it, though?

Sure a high chance of meeting women (which is nice if you don't want to be
Forever Alone), but other than the ability to strech a little more what is the
gain?

~~~
DenisM
It's excercise like any other, it's just using the body's own weight instead
of dumbbells to create load. Stretchin is a lesser part of yoga than strength.

~~~
tomjen3
Oh, that makes more sense, then.

------
rayiner
I've plugged this here before, but so what:
[http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-
tra...](http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-
program).

The key observation here is that your average person doesn't need a
particularly sophisticated routine to get "average in shape" (if that makes
sense). I think the conventional wisdom that you need to be eating health food
all the time and running an hour a day makes people feel like it's just not
worth the effort. If you're like most people and not even getting 7-8 hours of
sleep, an hour a day of working out isn't in the cards. But: "eat lots of
protein and work out 3x30 minutes a week" is so much more approachable.

~~~
dave1619
A word of caution... StrongLifts and Starting Strength promote advanced
compound motions (ie., deadlift, bench press, squat, etc). So, it's great to
kick start your muscle growth mechanism and gain strength. It's hard to argue
against the deadlift, squat and bench press. But personally I've found that
these exercises can be difficult and you need instruction. For the bench press
you want to arch your back and bring your shoulder blades together to give
support as you press so you don't injure your shoulder and/or rotator cuff.
The squat and deadlift also aren't simple exercises. Lots of people get
injured doing these advanced exercises.

I'd highly recommend watching a bunch of videos on correct form (ie., Starting
Strength has a decent dvd and YouTube has some decent tutorials). But even
better would be to get a very good personal trainer to teach you these lifts.

I'm just really hesitant suggesting a beginner to go out to the gym and try
these moves on their own. Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

My other criticism of StrongLifts and Starting Strength is because of the
complexity of the movements, the higher in weight you go the more you really
should have a spotter and that just makes working out that much more
complicated (need to arrange a time to meet someone, etc). If you don't use a
spotter and you've progressed to some really heavy weights then it can be
dangerous. There's quite of few deaths from the bench press every year.

Personally, rather than pushing myself alone a barbell squat what I'll do is
I'll pre-exhaust myself with a few sets of barbell squats (moderate weight)
and then go to exhaustion on the leg extension, leg press and leg curl
machines. This to me is a much safer route then trying to max out on a barbell
squat.

For deadlift, I do a modified stiff-leg deadlift (I learned this by watching
Dorian Yates) where I start from a standing position and don't go down all the
way. I also use moderate weights for this.

For bench press, I had to learn correct form (after hurting my shoulder a bit
thinking I knew how to bench). I go max weight on this but I use one of those
assisted power racks for safety.

To me the lifts that Starting Strength and Stronglifts promote are too
important to ignore but I just don't agree with their program for everyone.
For beginners working out by themselves in the gym and wanting to do the
deadlift, squat and bench press... I suggest:

1\. Learn proper form on these advanced movements from an expert.

2\. Go moderate weight on deadlift and barbell squats if you're working out by
yourself.

3\. Don't be stupid on the bench press by lifting your max without a spotter.
I read that more deaths happen because of the bench press than any other
exercise in the gym.

For beginners, I would probably not suggest not StartingStrength/StrongLifts.
But rather, I'd suggest working out 2-3 times a week (average 20-30 minutes
per workout) using High Intensity Training principles and techniques. The
basic principles is doing one set to muscular failure per exercise.

If you're really just starting out, read Body By Science (Little and McGuff)
and follow their Big Five exercise program. It's the top 5 exercises
(machines) that you do once a week. Just one set each to failure and it only
takes 20 minutes/week. The key is going to failure.

If you're wanting more, check out The New High Intensity Training (Darden). He
summarizes the basics of H.I.T and gives some decent workouts. He suggests 3
times a week for beginners and the workouts take less than 30 minutes each.
Again the key is going to failure with each exercise.

~~~
craigyk
What do you suggest for someone that wants to be efficient and effective at
home, without assistance, and without lots of equipment?

~~~
dave1619
Working out at home, I think, you're going to have to make some compromises
especially if you don't want a lot of equipment. Equipment helps because you
can lift heavier weights than body weight exercises and that will kickstart
muscle growth more efficiently. My wife's been doing P90x the past several
months and likes the guided workouts. She's making decent gains but it's a lot
of time - about one hour a day, six days a week. To me that's a lot of
time/commitment and I think it can borderline on overtraining.

If I had to workout at home (I don't because my gym is just 5 minutes away and
currently I'm doing a very-efficient workout just once every 3 days for under
30 minutes), then I would probably get some decent equipment. I'd might go
with a good power rack, bench, and barbell/dumbbell set. Here's the workout I
probably would do:

1\. Leg #1 - I would do mostly squats with the power rack and have the safety
bar set up. I would do 4-5 sets with moderately heavy weights to tire my legs
out but wouldn't go to total failure with the heavy weights. I might go to
failure with a final set with light weight (for safety) or do a final set of
air squats (or with dumbbell) to tire my legs out completely.

2\. Leg/Lower Back #2 - I would do a modified stiff-leg deadlift (see Dorian
Yates do this on YouTube). This would exercise my hamstrings and lower back. I
personally don't really like doing full deadlifts. I just feel unsafe with
them (just personally). With the stiff-leg deadlift I'd do probably 3 sets
with moderate-heavy weight and wouldn't go to total failure (to be safe).

3\. Leg #3 - I'd work out my calves by holding a heavy barbell and doing calf
raises (standing on toes and back down). I'd do heavy and failure, probably
just one set.

Now, the legs are done. I wish I could do leg extensions but that's tough with
just a power rack. If you have space or in the future want to expand your
equipment, that might be a good piece to have. Also, leg press is a great
machine too but would probably take up a lot of room (but squats could perform
a lot of the similar function).

4\. Chest - I'd do bench press (or incline/decline bench press) with
moderately heavy weights, probably 2-3 sets (not to failure). I'd do a final
set to total failure with lighter dumbbells (for safety because a barbell if
let loose could really do serious damage on your face/throat), pushups, or
dips.

5\. Shoulder #1 - I'd probably use dumbbells and do shoulder press for one set
to failure (warm-up sets ok, but final set should be heavy and to failure).

6\. Shoulder #2 - I'd choose one of the following and mix them up: front lat
raise, side lat raise, bending over lat raise, shoulder shrugs. One set to
failure.

7\. Back - You can do a good back workout with pulls-ups and chin-ups using
the power rack (if the power rack supports your weight). If it's difficult to
do pull-ups/chin-ups, then try using a chair and doing negatives (just the
down motion very slowly to build strength). You can also get a power rack with
a lat pull down (I don't know how good it is but here's the link,
[http://www.amazon.com/Valor-Athletics-Inc-BD-
Power/dp/B002EJ...](http://www.amazon.com/Valor-Athletics-Inc-BD-
Power/dp/B002EJC990)). If you have this, then do one set of wide-grip lat pull
downs to failure with heavy weight and then immediately follow it with close-
grip (palms facing in) lat pulldowns (this combo will work your back like
crazy).

8\. Triceps - I'd do some tricep extensions (standing or lying down) for one
set to failure. (Close-grip bench press is also good. Dips are great as well,
especially immediately follow tricep extensions.)

9\. Biceps - I'd do barbell curls or isolated dumbbell curls. One set to
failure. (Chin-ups immediately following are great to work biceps more.)

10\. Abs - I'd mix it up with ab exercises and choose from crunches, reverse
crunches, hanging knee raises. Just one set very slow to failure.

My strategy in working out would be to do full-body workouts (that last no
longer than 30 minutes) every 3 days. For safety reasons, I wouldn't go to
failure using heavy weights on squats, deadlift or bench press (that's why I'd
do more than one set and use moderately heavy weight to tire muscles out and
with legs/chest I would go to failure using another easier exercise like air
squats w/dumbbell or push-ups). For all other exercises the basic concept
would be to lift heavy, do just one set, but do that one set to failure. You
can do warmup sets (lighter weights for a few to several reps) to warm up the
muscles as needed. I would suggest doing rotator cuff warmups/exercises to
prevent rotator cuff injury (the most common bodybuilding injury).

Also, for all movements I suggest doing them slowly. This will remove
momentum, help prevent injury, and also increase how much your muscles are
working out. It's most important when you first start a movement not to to
start fast, be jerky and use momentum. This could result in injury. Start slow
and controlled.

I also suggest learning proper form for all exercises, but especially the
squat, bench press and modified stiff-leg deadlift. There's a good youtube
series called So You Think You Can Squat and another called So You Think You
Can Bench. For squats remember weight back on your heels, knees out and back
arched. For bench press remember back arched and shoulder blades toward each
other, and your elbows tucked in a bit. Starting Strength has a decent DVD
where Rippetoe teaches several students the squat and bench press (and other
movements). For stiff-leg deadlift I suggest watching Dorian Yates do his
modified version of the stiff-leg deadlift
(<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtevN0SWp-o>). He doesn't go all the way down
to the floor (just below knees). This is my personal preference for safety
reasons.

For equipment, I'd recommend a decent power rack (see Amazon), a good bench
(Amazon again), and a good barbell/dumbbell set. For the barbell/dumbbell set,
I'd recommend some olympic plates (something like [http://www.amazon.com/Body-
Solid-ORST255-Rubber-Olympic/dp/B...](http://www.amazon.com/Body-Solid-
ORST255-Rubber-Olympic/dp/B001F1Y17G)) with one barbell bar and two dumbbell
bars.

If you actually follow through with this, I'd love to help you get started and
see your progress. I can also suggest more resources along the way. You can
get in touch with me at heydave at gmail.com.

Update: Here's a video demo of some of the exercises you can do with a power
rack, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3I_HCum1Zg> .

------
PhilandTim
A lot of what he advocates still displays that he's largely a novice, just one
with more knowledge than your average programmer. But still a novice.

Research (I'm not finding the studies, sorry) has indeed shown that protein
intake is minimally correlated to muscle growth. He was on the mark by
mentioning that only certain amounts of protein can be used in one setting,
while the rest is wasted by the body. It's not one hard and fast number;
individuals bodies vary greatly according to metabolic rates, capacity to
grow, and ability to gain strength.

After going from zero resistance training to 90 minutes a week, as was his
case, anybody is obviously going to get much stronger. In the strength
community these are just referred to as beginner gains.

When you've been lifting for a few years, 90 minutes of strenuous resistance
training a week is only going to help you maintain your current body, at best,
even at maximal resistance levels and training until failure. This is why it's
so common to see guys who go to the same gym for years and never look any
different. Over time, your body acclimates and it takes more resistance AND
more volume to continue growing. Genetics and the aforementioned variability
between individuals does play a large difference, but for nearly anyone, doing
three 30 minute workouts a week (at maximum intensity) for more than a couple
years won't result in any noticeable difference.

If you're focusing time efficiency, go for it, else there are far more
reputable sources for how to gain strength and muscle mass than one guy's
anecdote of how he did half a year of strength training.

~~~
kemiller
I don't think anywhere in there did he suggest this was a professional's
regime. This is how he went from weakling (struggling to lift his son's
wheelchair) to putting on 35 lb of muscle. For, I'm thinking, LOTS of HN
readers (myself included) that would be a radical change in life experience.
The most interesting tips are the time savers, and the programmer's viewpoint,
not the specifics of lifting technique, which you can find lots of places.

------
crusso
You can quibble with some of his techniques or equipment. I found that they
weren't objectionable and not far from what I've put together over the years.

The main takeaway from the whole article is to minimize the difficulty in
getting your workout done. Easy equipment to setup, adjust, and maintain in a
convenient environment are critical factors.

I set up a DVR with some news/interest shows that record for me every day. I
used to sit on my butt in the evenings and watch them. At some point, I
figured... why am I not lifting weights while I watch these shows? A few trips
to the sporting goods store later, and I was rocking and rolling.

My favorite pieces of equipment:

1\. A good, versatile bench. 2\. A bar for pullups (with some extra weights
that I hook my feet under for extra resistance) 3\. My dumbells 4\. A multi-
angle-grip curl bar.

With minimal equipment and an entertaining setup, working out can be easy to
accomplish without feeling like you have to drag your ass to the gym for
interminable hours every week.

~~~
Evbn
Seems bad for your neck to have eyes on a fixed TV during a moving exercise.

~~~
crusso
Mostly news shows with people talking, so I don't have to glue my eyes to the
set while doing reps. Besides, a DVR is great for pausing and rewinding if
something sounds interesting while I can't look.

------
diminoten
Doing basically anything will show improvement over not doing anything. Very
frequently you find various fad exercises gaining momentum because of this
fact - these people go from doing nothing to doing _something_ , and when it
does work they become huge proponents of a system that basically works solely
on the fact that it's not nothing.

~~~
larsberg
Strength coaches call this the "novice effect." It's why you can see an
untrained person's squat increase if they ride the exercise bike a few times a
week.

If your goal is optimality, the question is: is your training program the most
effective use of your time?

On the other hand, not everybody cares about optimality, but more whether they
can actually show up regularly. It takes a certain craziness to follow linear
progressions, especially since it can take a mental toll (fuzzy headed all
day) if you push too hard, which is sub-optimal in this field.

------
ams6110
My problem is I just do not enjoy exercise. I grant that some level of
exercise is probably healthy, but I just don't enjoy it. At all. Not long ago
I made myself run 3 or 4 days a week, for about 4 months. I did build up my
ability to go longer distances but it never made me feel any better. After
running I never felt energized or more productive; I felt tired and wanted to
go to bed. I had similar experiences with strength training, tennis,
raquetball, cycling... I don't think you can form a habit out of something if
you don't enjoy it. You can keep doing it out of sheer willpower, but it will
never become a habit.

~~~
X-Istence
I used to hate working out, specifically because I absolutely hate cardio
(looking at you treadmill, running, walking, biking, elliptical) but I found
great joy in lifting. I started off slow, but even now I can really get into
it.

I look forward to going to the gym and getting a work-out in when I get home
from work. I used to absolutely hate it, because people told me that I should
do cardio to lose weight ... now most of what I do is lifting. A little cardio
and the inches keep coming off, and I keep getting stronger.

Find something you enjoy doing (I love swimming) and find pleasure in doing
that, even if it is for a short period of time per day. Running clearly isn't
for you, and it isn't for me...

------
dez
Just my 2c here as a national level powerlifter -

This article is terrible. If you want to get fit/strong/whatever your goal,
just do it properly. Go to a gym, go and run, whatever. This is an awful
article. The general theme is good, and there is some good info in there, but
I wouldn't expect much result or progress from it.

------
dkarl
Nice classy article, HN.

\- Links to over $500 dollars worth of equipment on Amazon, and over $1000
overall (I guess the Marcy device isn't sold on Amazon?) but no links to any
sites with good information about lifting weights.

\- Recommendation of specific supplements and lifting program (including
suggested numbers of reps and sets) but only a haphazard list of random
exercises and no information about how to perform them.

\- No discussion of how his suggested total time and set count imply very
short rest periods, which isn't necessarily wrong but deserves some comment,
especially for beginners who might wonder "WTF is going on?" when they try to
do five sets to failure in ten minutes (that's 15-20 sets split into three
sessions totaling thirty minutes per day.)

\- Come to think of it, very little discussion of how beginners should work
their way up to such an effort, especially since they should be much more slow
and careful until they're comfortable with good form. Beginners working to
failure? You'd better be _very_ specific about what exercises you're talking
about before you suggest that.

\- Recommendation to use creatine with no discussion of what it does. Creatine
does not in itself make you stronger, but it makes it possible for you to
sustain a harder pace for a longer time in your workouts. Even if you're
experienced in the gym, you have to be careful about overuse injuries when you
start using creatine, because the sudden ability to work harder, longer,
allows you to put more strain on your connective tissue than you're used to.

\- The section on safety includes nothing about safety, except, in the last
sentence, a weak suggestion that a single session with a personal trainer
might be helpful. No warning that many personal trainers know little about
weights. No tips on how to find one who does. NO OTHER SAFETY INFORMATION.
And, again, no links to better sources of information.

\- Bizarre recommendation of a belt for safety, despite suggesting dumbbell
exercises only and suggesting that no instruction is needed beyond a single
"fix-up" session with a trainer. What the heck is a person with no instruction
and a bunch of dumbbells going to do that makes a belt a good idea?

\- Recommendation of working out in the morning with no mention of the
possible danger of working your back within one hour of getting out of bed.

\- Many links to his own articles but no links to external sources of
information about weightlifting (of which there are many) except for a calorie
calculator.

\- Come to think of it, no acknowledgment of the people or information sources
who helped him get started and influenced his choices.

\- Finally, seriously, given the choice between creating all those links to
equipment and supplements on Amazon and creating a decent list of suggested
exercises with links to instruction on how to do them, we got the Amazon
links. Odd priorities, there. Very odd.

~~~
mutagen
Matt Might enjoys a certain amount of credibility on HN for his fantastic
blogging on CS topics. While I don't begrudge his attempts to share aspects
other aspects of his life and even monetize his blogging, I think you raise
some valid criticisms of this post. Certainly the topic of personal fitness
and weightlifting is much deeper than a single article with sparse links, I'd
treat this more as his personal experience with starting instead of a
definitive guide to the subject.

~~~
dkarl
_I'd treat this more as his personal experience with starting instead of a
definitive guide to the subject._

If it's supposed to be taken that way, it should be written that way. Instead,
someone with a little bit of personal experience about a subject wrote a soup-
to-nuts guide for beginners that strikes an authoritative tone, acknowledges
no other authorities, implies a great deal of expertise (even implying that
the information he presents is derived from scientific studies,) gives advice
that is extremely incomplete and in places off the wall, and refers entirely
to his own work with NO suggestion that readers should seek out any other
source of information. _That's not normal._ It's bizarre. Our jaws should be
dropping at the inappropriateness of it. If it feels normal to people, I can
only surmise that it is due to a distortion of culture where pumping yourself
up as an expert (and "monetizing your blog") is not something that can be
accurate or inaccurate, or honest or dishonest, but is simply assumed as the
socially normal way to communicate.

------
hkmurakami
I don't disagree with the overal theme of the article, but I have to disagree
on some particulars. Some thoughts:

>Habit First

Absolutely agree, especially when you're trying to get out of morbid out-of-
shapeness. I personally find that mixing it into a pre-existing daily routine
works well. I personally do core work and pullups/chinups before my morning
and evening showers, and stretch exercises while I'm in the shower.

>Diet

IMO the Diet section is way too detailed as a first step. For someone who is
trying to improve from very poor nutrition, I would advise the following:

1\. Get rid of all processed sugar products from your house: candy, juice,
soda, cookies, etc. (imo all processed items are bad, but again it's about
keeping the barrier low)

2\. Only walk around the outside lanes of a Grocery store (where the meats,
dairy, and vegetables are). Don't go into the middle aisles where they have
all the sugary, salty, processed goodies. Keeping bad food out of the house is
the easiest, lowest friction way to keep a healthy diet.

> Dumbbells first

Totally disagree with this one. Compound lifts using Barbells are vastly
superior to isolation lifts using dumbbells, particularly for beginners. And
for beginners, Starting Strength has proven time and time again to be the most
effective program. [1]

If you're "starting out", then bodyweight exercises like pullups, chinups,
bodyweight squats, planks, pushups, situps, are going to be low barrier to
entry, good-habit inducing work that can be leveraged to take the person to
the next level when they're comfortable. Once they're at this stage, they can
buy whatever barbell setup they're comfortable with (I personally really want
an Olympic Lifting platform in my garage...), which is going to be much much
cheaper than that complicated Nautilus weight thing anyway.

>Safety

>Even with dummbells, I was able to put loads on my back that felt
uncomfortable within about three months.

That' because dumbell lifts don't engage the stabilizer muscles. As a result,
those support muscles are going to be underdeveloped and you won't have
developed the coordination to engage them when you need them.

> Padded lifting gloves with wrist support helped keep my wrists in a stable,
> safe position and alleviated wrist pain.

IMO using outside assistance like this promotes bad form and bad habits.

>Str training machines

Ugh these machines are terrible. They (a) don't engage your auxiliary muscles
well, and (b) move weights in an unnatural path relative to your body and tend
to cause more injuries than just plan barbell work. A great example is
squatting on a smith machine, which puts you into very dangerous positions.
(yet every single small'ish gym believes that they are somehow safer than
regular squat racks)

\---

I find it odd that the article started out with the premise of helping very
novice people get into a healthier routine wrt both diet and exercise, yet
evolved into a fairly intermediate article. IMO most people don't need to
optimize strength training to this extent. Just getting in any kind of routine
and eating well will go a lonnggggg ways.

[1]
[http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength...](http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/The_Starting_Strength_Novice/Beginner_Programs)

~~~
yummyfajitas
Not all dumbell exercises are isolation. For most _upper body_ barbell
exercises, you can find a corresponding dumbell exercise which recruits _more_
stabilizer muscle. Compare, for example, the barbell bench press to the
dumbell version - the dumbell version is harder since you need to stabilize
each dumbell in 2 directions rather than 1.

Or just look at the turkish get up. That's all stabilizer.

Of course, there is no substitute for squats and deadlifts. The closest is
pistol squats which are great for advanced athletes, but pistol squats are
very hard to do if you haven't done a lot of barbell squats first.

~~~
scott_s
Dumbbell bench requires more stabilization muscles, but you'll be able to
build more raw upper body strength with barbell bench.

I did dumbbell bench exclusively for close to a year, and got to the point
that I could get 5 reps with the 120 pound dumbbells. However, when I moved
over to barbell bench, there was surprisingly litte transfer - no real
difference from where my barbell bench was before I started doing dumbbell.

Absolutely agree on squats and deadlifts. Squats should be the cornerstone of
a strength program.

------
Detrus
Reads a bit like an ad for some popular products. Most equipment junkies agree
that SelectTech dumbbells are the worst choice. Cheap spinlocks are better
because they're sturdier, can take some abuse. Regular handles are 14" and you
can get 18" handles. With Bowflex and their copycats, the dumbbells are an
annoying length at any weight.

Ironmasters are the best dumbbells you can quickly adjust, followed by
Powerblocks. They get shorter with less weight. Quick adjustment is not very
important once your weights get above 50 lbs because you're taking long enough
breaks to switch weights and get bored.

~~~
mayneack
Not only that, but unless you get a few optimal weights, they are unbalanced,
so you are limited by what you can do. Sure, some things it doesn't matter if
the right side of the weight is the same weight as the left side, but when I
tried it I couldn't get past this.

------
dave1619
The blog post had some decent information but I think it was a bit scattered
to me.

Here are the key principles to gaining muscle with the least resistance (in my
opinion):

1\. Lift heavy as possible - you'll have a difficult time stimulating lots of
muscle growth with light weights which I've personally tried.

2\. Use proper form - tons of people get injured on heavy resistance exercises
because of improper form or lifting too much without a spotter.

3\. Go to muscular failure - the final rep where you can't lift the weight no
more is the most important. It contributes the most to kick starting your
muscle growth mechanism.

4\. Don't overtrain - you need to give your body ample rest and recovery for
your muscles to grow the most. (Personally I'm training once every 3 days and
currently this is working well for me).

5\. Train the full body - building stronger/bigger legs will help build mass
everywhere in your body. Don't think you're get strong just doing push-ups.
You need to work all the major muscles in some way - quads, hamstring, glutes,
calves, pecs, lats, delts, triceps, biceps, etc.

6\. You only need to spend 25 minutes 2-3 times a week. Tip: look into High
Intensity Training principles from Arthur Jones, Mentzer, Darden and others.
They promoted short, intense workouts (usually one set to failure per
exercise) that stimulated arguably more muscle growth than longer workouts.

~~~
georgeoliver
Training to failure seems like a core principle of HIT but is there consensus
on its general effectiveness? I'm two months into the basic program of
Starting Strength, lifting solo at home, so for lifts like the squat I don't
really want to go to failure. Is this just something to apply if you want
maximum return on time?

~~~
dave1619
I wouldn't suggest going to failure on squats if you're lifting solo at home.
Some people are advocates of HVT (High Volume Training) and it seems to have
results as well. I think going to failure on one set is more of a preference
thing if you want to maximize efficiency.

------
akandiah
This article has some good points, but doesn't explain some of the basics. If
you're after a good read on fitness, try this article:
[http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/everything-you-know-
abou...](http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/everything-you-know-about-
fitness-is-a-lie-20120504)

The recommended reading list at the end of that article is extremely valuable.

------
MCem
Buying a pressing machine is terrible advice. I'm sure it cost him hundreds or
at most a few thousand. He could have gotten a set of heavier dumbbells for
that money, or a barbell.

For the record, any lifter should know how to either dump the weight on a
barbell or roll it down the chest. It isn't particularly dangerous to bench
without a spotter if you're not going to failure

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huherto
Can anyone recommend a good reference for dumbbells training with
compound/functional movements? Something like this but with better
explanations. [http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/dumbbell-
wo...](http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/dumbbell-workout)

~~~
tomkinstinch
This site is good. It has a list of exercises listed by muscle group and
instructions on how to do them with different equipment along with .gifs of
proper form and a bunch of other information:

<http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html>

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klodolph
It looks like "least resistance" here means, "I don't want to have to go to
the gym, so I bought equipment so I could exercise at home." No shit,
Sherlock.

You don't need much equipment to get a good workout at home. Most of the
machines at the gym are for isolation exercises. They serve three purposes:
they help sell memberships, they're useful if you're injured, and they're
useful for serious bodybuilders. This is, I think, common knowledge.

But I think it bears repeating that if you have an injury, free weights might
not be for you.

As a side note, Schwarzenegger did an AMA over on /r/fitness yesterday. He was
a powerlifter before he was a bodybuilder, and his advice is simple.

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/1brg0z/im_back_ama_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/1brg0z/im_back_ama_about_fitness/)

~~~
ahelwer
Problem with buying your own equipment: I'm in my early 20's, so haven't
settled into a permanent residence yet. I move around fairly often; I doubt
this is uncommon. Exercise equipment is difficult to move (often by
intention!) so buying it is just cause for headache.

I do own one 15 lb sandbell, which is basically just a more versatile medicine
ball. I can do enough exercises with it to avoid not being able to move for
three days after a game of ultimate. Anything more would be much too
inconvenient.

~~~
shawn-butler
I have found kettle bells to be both effective and mobile.

~~~
xaritas
Seconded, they are extremely versatile, but make sure you do some research on
how to use them effectively (books, videos, or trainers). Their unconventional
shape, which makes them so effective, also makes it easy to lift in a way that
is bio-mechanically unsound. Also, there are a huge number of compound lifts
that you would never think of on your own (e.g., the Turkish Get Up—not a
beginners' move for sure: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGRBvom4Zrw>)

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MortenK
If you are considering starting out with weight lifting and muscle training,
get some proper instruction from an actual strength trainer, rather than a
random CS prof.

While "hacking your body" sounds appealing to CS people (work smarter not
harder!), the reality is there is no shortcut. You'll have to lift a lot of
iron regularly, for a lot of time, while eating correctly, for anything
serious to happen.

Following advice like in this post, will most likely end you up with a lighter
wallet and a garage full of unused Flexotronic Bulkmaster 2000 machines and
expired supplements. In worst case with a serious injury, you'll carry around
for a long time.

Today everybody's an expert on everything, but do consider taking CS advice
from a CS prof, and strength advice from a strength trainer.

------
D-Train
Habit is pretty much the biggest thing here. Looking at the success of P90X
and others, it's all about working out REGULARLY. Everything else pretty much
builds on the habit factor -- motivation through competition/ finding
exercises that are fun, diet to enhance, etc.

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kyllo
Hacking things is good, but for some things, there just is no shortcut.
Getting strong is not something you can hack. You need to do progressive
resistance training using compound movements and consume a large amount of
protein. That's it. There are different methods for achieving this, and they
are not all equally good, but if you ask someone who is legitimately strong,
they can point you to a proven routine.

If there's any "hacking" left to be done in this space, it's probably diet-
related (nutrient timing techniques like intermittent fasting, carb back-
loading, etc) and not workout-related.

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dmatlack
Congratulations on your success. There so many comments here on what you
_could_ or _should_ have done differently. I know you'll read it and maybe
you'll give some of it a try. But if what you are doing works for you, then
keep at it. When you stop making gains or want to switch up your program, you
know what to do. Thanks for documenting all your tips and what you have
learned. Keep lifting.

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transfire
I followed the link to your weight loss suggestions where I learned about BMR.
I don't get it. I must be a very abnormal human being. My BMR worked out to be
2660 * 1.2 = 3192 calories. But I tracked my caloric intake using MyFitnessPal
for over a month and I was averaging abut 2000 calories a day and often
pushing myself down as low as 1500 calories a day. Yet I barely lost a pound.

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aliston
> I hit 90 pounds per hand on the flat bench press (up from 25 per hand at the
> start).

I call BS unless he's tinkering with terminology. 50 lbs max bench press to
180 lbs max in 5 months is impossible.

~~~
Almaviva
It's very possible his strength max in the beginning was much higher (100+)
but a big part of learning to bench press with dumbbells is the balance and
coordination.

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ezl
make exercise a a habit. lift heavy objects. consume calories and protein.
supplements may help.

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giardini
blogspam pure and simple.

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Evbn
Finally an article relevant to Matt's website domain.

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bearwithclaws
Matt Might is the new Tim Ferris. Only better :)

