Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
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You might just not like the Stronglifts format. I used 5x5 when I started, and it's very valuable for getting started, but rarely have I gone back to it over the decade since. Mostly, I find something like the Bulgarian Lite method, where I'm trying to hit a PR on something. Rarely do my lifting sessions last longer than 45 minutes. When they do, it's normally that I am enjoying them.
You might not like barbells. Try kettlebells instead. They're easy to store and use at home, they encourage a certain degree of "owning the weight" and focus on reps and density rather than increasing weight, they're a little more explosive and athletic and fun than the classic powerlifts.
There's no real reason you have to or should keep the same routine for longer than three to six months. You're likely to start to stall out after more than twelve weeks on the same routine. At that point, you should always be switching to a new routine, whether that's the same format with new lifts, the same lifts with a new format, something other than weightlifting entirely, just something new that you're stoked on. In the past year or so I've focused on the barbell clean and jerk, the moonboard, the kettlebell pentathlon, push pressing a 97lb kettlebell for 32 consecutive reps, hitting a max on the Landmine Jerk, and for the last four months on BJJ. I still mess around with the other exercises in between, but I'm only ever focused on advancing one at a time. When I start getting bored of one, I move on to the next. I'm 33 and I'm not making the olympics in anything so what does it matter if my progress is slower? I'm getting strong and having fun.
You might like more of a social/class format like Crossfit. Crossfit is where I started lifting, at any decent box you will get good at the big lifts, and I think most of the people talking shit on it are either fat or not nearly as strong as your average Crossfitter.
Home gym master race.
Because it isn't overvalued, it isn't expensive, it doesn't take up much time done right. Lifting weights and working out is massively undervalued, it's the best thing you can do for yourself. Strength is the master trait that makes everything else easier. Rock climbing, when I took it up, was easier because I was strong; BJJ is easier because I was strong when I started; team sports and living your life in general will be better and easier. The only thing it makes worse is getting dressed.
I never actually tried Stronglifts. What I tried for a few months last year was the basic beginner routine. It actually resembles Stronglifts a bit, I guess. I just liked how straightforward Stronglifts looked while still having the exercises I liked from the beginner routine.
There were fun parts about it, actually - I like overhead press and chin-ups, I am okay with bench press and barbell rows. Deadlifts and squats are things that scare me, because the weight is high enough that you could be seriously hurt for a long time if you mess up. That kind of goes for bench press, too. As I started putting on more weight, I started getting less confident in my form. With bench press, it was warranted. I took a look at some more videos and found that my elbows were too far out to the sides, and that you need to basically curve your lift a bit to do a proper rep (which was disheartening, because I had to go down in weight to do the proper reps). But I was never confident enough to put much weight on a squat or a deadlift, especially after I did increase my weight according to the guide for deadlifts and came away with a horrible tailbone pain to drive home with. I don't think I ever did more than 170 for squats, and maybe even less than that for deadlifts.
Seeing you write about kettlebells does sound fun. There are actually kettlebells at my gym. I've never seen anyone with one in the section they're in. Do you recommend a workout? Can you actually get stronger with a kettlebell? What about lower body stuff, can kettlebells do that? As I've said, I seem to prefer jogging over most resistance training, so maybe kettlebells would be more fun than barbells. There's also the benefit that I don't need to spend hundreds of dollars and allocate a ton of space for kettlebells.
I am open to class formats. I took Tae Kwon Do when I was a kid, and it wasn't boring. I didn't really get along with the other kids very much, but you don't really need to to have fun sparring or hitting a bag. Increasingly, the class got worse as I grew older. It started seeming to be for mostly young kids, and as I got taller and stronger, the only sparring partner was my brother, and the brutality of those seemed to increase over time, along with the weird feeling of bitter rage holding back inexplicable tears in my throat after a spar, usually after I perceived that I had lost or after having taken some blows with some high amount of force (not exclusive to him, I felt the same thing losing in a tournament). I never got injured since we were padded up and kept the hits to the pads. We stopped going due to loss of interest once I was 16 and my brother was 18.
That being said, I think most classes are usually the aerobic kind of thing, right? Hopefully there are some classes that actually build muscle and aren't 99% women.
So a class that has significant big lifting mixed in is CrossFit. You get competition, you get teaching, and you get lifting and cardio.
For Kettlebells any of the classic Pavel programs from Enter the Kettlebell will work and are simple to follow. Start with a 35#/16kg if you're a normal size man, and work to get to a 24kg/53# in a few months. Stick to the 24kg until you can complete the 100 snatches in ten minutes test. By the time you get there, you'll be in pretty good shape and pretty strong, go back to barbells and you'll be shocked at your strength in the DL and squat.
Okay. So I have to buy just two kettlebells, then?
You really just need the 16kg to get started, then a few months later the 24kg.
If you catch the bug like me you'll end up with a bunch over the years.
Don't buy an adjustable they're shit and gay.
Is this what I should start with? Not seeing any other real in-depth description of Program Minimum from Enter the Kettlebell.
Idk that version looks annoying to me.
https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Fitness/Pavel%20Tsatsouline%20-%20Enter%20The%20Kettlebell%21%20Strength%20Secret%20of%20The%20Soviet%20Supermen%20%282006%2C%20Dragon%20Door%20Publications%29.pdf
If you don't want to just pay the $10 or borrow it from the library. At any rate the basic concept is something like: Do a bunch of KB swings, do a bunch of Turkish Get Ups. Don't worry too much about doing "more" reps, and don't add weight, just try to do the exercises and keep your muscles under tension. Both Swings and TGUs are exercises where you have to focus on form and they're easy to pretend to do. The program minimum will not take long each week, will work your whole body, will accustom you to lifting weights. If you can master the swing, it gets you ready for everything else, it's the basis of the clean and jerk, the snatch, all the fun stuff.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=16kg+kettlebell&crid=V6L0W7O31JJ9&sprefix=16kg+kettl%2Caps%2C268&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
Buy literally any cast iron 16kg kettlebell. I splurged on Rogue MiUSA ones, but that was after I already loved kettlebells and had spent a ridiculous quantity of time working with them so I didn't mind spending extra, and I was ordering enough stuff from Rogue to get free shipping. I also have some random enameled ones I got at a local store 14 years ago, and some off-brand Amazon ones in heavier weights I ordered because I got free shipping. AVOID GETTING KETTLEBELLS MEASURED IN POUNDS, GET THEM IN THE CLASSIC 8KG INTERVALS. I started with 50#ers I picked up at a local store, and it didn't matter to me at the time, but years later it pissed me off because the classic benchmarks are measured in KG and mine were always a little off.
That version does look annoying! I'm glad that that's not what you meant, because it looks way more complicated than was advertised in this thread. I will see if I can get the book itself. Swings look fun. Thanks for the purchase advice.
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Sweet, thanks. I'll take a look at the Program Minimum lifts somewhere. Hopefully there's a video. I don't want to buy the book. I'll check at the YMCA if they have any kettlebells there. Seems to me like a 35 pound kettlebell is a lot safer than loading up hundreds of pounds on your back and lowering yourself, but I might just not be creative enough coming up with failure scenarios.
I did 3 great chin-ups the other day. I was proud. Someday I'll be able to do 5, hopefully.
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