Support NeoGAF

[Bealost]

GAIZ I NEED HELP!!! I'm thinking about doing the unthinkable, the terrible, the worst thing I thought I'd never do! I might......stop squatting. A couple weeks ago I was gassed, worn down. I thought taking a little time off would help, and it has too a point. But I'm still absolutely dreading my workouts. I think it is squats, because I look forward to bench and chin and all the other stuff, but I absolutely dread squats lately. I've been doing them for a year and am doing nearly 1.5x body weight for reps, but I absolutely hate them now. I feel like I either need to replace heavy LBBS with some single leg work or snatches or something or I'm going to find it hard to get my ass to the gym when I'm supposed to.

I feel like if I'm not enjoying my workouts because of squats, I should find something different at least for awhile. Any suggestions? Maybe Bulgarian split squats, or pistols.... I don't know. And I'm going to be running a at least 3-4 days a week to get ready for a race in June.

 

[Veezy]

GAIZ I NEED HELP!!! I'm thinking about doing the unthinkable, the terrible, the worst thing I thought I'd never do! I might......stop squatting. A couple weeks ago I was gassed, worn down. I thought taking a little time off would help, and it has too a point. But I'm still absolutely dreading my workouts. I think it is squats, because I look forward to bench and chin and all the other stuff, but I absolutely dread squats lately. I've been doing them for a year and am doing nearly 1.5x body weight for reps, but I absolutely hate them now. I feel like I either need to replace heavy LBBS with some single leg work or snatches or something or I'm going to find it hard to get my ass to the gym when I'm supposed to.

I feel like if I'm not enjoying my workouts because of squats, I should find something different at least for awhile. Any suggestions? Maybe Bulgarian split squats, or pistols.... I don't know. And I'm going to be running a at least 3-4 days a week to get ready for a race in June.

Have you thought about adjusting your program to where your squats aren't so brutal on your body? 5/3/1 or Texas Method, for example? When I was doing 315 for reps weight at 180, I had to switch to something that made me squat only 1-2 times a week, as the amount of effort it took to move the bar drained me for a day or two.

 

[X-Frame]

GAIZ I NEED HELP!!! I'm thinking about doing the unthinkable, the terrible, the worst thing I thought I'd never do! I might......stop squatting. A couple weeks ago I was gassed, worn down. I thought taking a little time off would help, and it has too a point. But I'm still absolutely dreading my workouts. I think it is squats, because I look forward to bench and chin and all the other stuff, but I absolutely dread squats lately. I've been doing them for a year and am doing nearly 1.5x body weight for reps, but I absolutely hate them now. I feel like I either need to replace heavy LBBS with some single leg work or snatches or something or I'm going to find it hard to get my ass to the gym when I'm supposed to.

I feel like if I'm not enjoying my workouts because of squats, I should find something different at least for awhile. Any suggestions? Maybe Bulgarian split squats, or pistols.... I don't know. And I'm going to be running a at least 3-4 days a week to get ready for a race in June.

I second what Veezy said. It seems like a knee-jerk reaction.

Always remember that while certain programs might be considered the "best" or most appropriate for certain situations, you need to determine what program is best for you. That's it. If you enjoy lifting more when you only squat once a week then by all means that is what you will make the most gains on -- you .. not me or the next guy. You, because you will have the most motivation and enjoyment that way. The "best" form of cardio will not help you get ripped if you hate doing it and therefore only do it once every 2 weeks -- but you LOVE doing the 3rd "best" form of cardio and can do it 6 times a week.

Also, rid yourself of the belief that your balls will shrivel up the moment you stop squatting. I haven't squatted since I hurt my lower back over a year ago and my legs and glutes are bigger than they've ever been doing single-leg training. It's not the be all, end all of lifts. Maybe for most people -- but not for me right now and maybe not for you.

 

[d_escudero]

SL 5X5 is a starter routine like SS. If you've already been doing SS, I'd stick with it and keep progressing as long as you can still make progress. In addition, why reset your weight to 50% when you don't have to?

If you do go with SL, 5X5 is meant for the very beginner. The extra sets are meant for form work and practice. As your workload increases, you drop the number of sets after two deloads to 3X5 then 1X5 and finally switch to an intermediate program. You've already learned the form and made decent progress. If you switch to SL, you'd probably start with 3X5.

While I still think you can make gains on SS, I would recommend Bill STarr 5x5 if you want to try something more intermediate. I wouldn't recommend 5-3-1 just yet as progression is slow and you can still get stronger faster doing linear progression. I'm also 5'4" and almost your weight if that matters at all.

Thank both of you, I think I will stick with SS and correct lifestyle problems.
I think I will do a little deload, and start over gaain.
ezrarh, it matters , now I have and a idea for a long term target

 

[Cooter]

If you're not going to use a premade routine I would at least advise you make this change.

Make back/biceps the same day and make chest/triceps the same day.

I would also move "legs" and "shoulders" to the same day.

That's of course without knowing what exactly you're doing.

My main advice would be to use a premade routine though or alter one. Especially if you're a beginner.

A little old but I was catching up on the thread and wanted to inject my opinion. I prefer to separate back and bis and chest and tris. Chest and back is my main concern and I have found that doing the secondary muscle on the same day doesn't allow me to get the most out of my primary. Also, when you do tris/bis on separate days you get the advantage of hitting them twice a week.

Here is my current routine:

Mon: Chest/bi
Tues: Legs
Wed or Thurs: Delts/tris
Fri or Sat: Back/delts

Take it or leave it but it has worked for me. I will mix the pairings but never put chest/tris and back/bis on the same day.

On a side note I benched 295 4 times today. PB for me.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

I've decided to add power cleans to my routine (or at least give them a try). I've been doing pendlay rows instead as part of SL5x5. Should I keep the rows in as an additional exercise, or just replace them entirely with power cleans? If I do keep them, how should I fit them in?

Right now my routine looks like this:

Day A:

Squat
Bench
Rows
Dips

Day B

Squat
OHP
Deadlifts
Neutral-grip pull-ups

Anyone?

Also, on an unrelated note, my hip is continuing to bother me. I can't even use the leg press machine without irritating it : ( . Gonna cut deadlifts in addition to squats for a month, just to be safe. Really hoping this goes away. I'll cave and go see a PT if it's still around in 4 weeks. For now, advil and ice all the way.

 

[grumble]

Anyone?

Also, on an unrelated note, my hip is continuing to bother me. I can't even use the leg press machine without irritating it : ( . Gonna cut deadlifts in addition to squats for a month, just to be safe. Really hoping this goes away. I'll cave and go see a PT if it's still around in 4 weeks. For now, advil and ice all the way.

I had constand hip flexor pain when I went too heavy on lower-body movements. Ended up needing to take a while off, as tendons and ligaments heal slowly. I used advil, nearly-complete rest and hot tubs / ice to keep it down.

 

[Mr.City]

Anyone?

Also, on an unrelated note, my hip is continuing to bother me. I can't even use the leg press machine without irritating it : ( . Gonna cut deadlifts in addition to squats for a month, just to be safe. Really hoping this goes away. I'll cave and go see a PT if it's still around in 4 weeks. For now, advil and ice all the way.

If dedlifts and squat are pissing off your hip, I don't imagine that power cleans are going to feel any better. I would probably get it checked out, along with your squat form.

 

[Timedog]

anyone know of any good iphone/ipod touch fitness journal apps? Just want something simple to put down my reps that isn't cumbersome.

 

[Mr.City]

GAIZ I NEED HELP!!! I'm thinking about doing the unthinkable, the terrible, the worst thing I thought I'd never do! I might......stop squatting. A couple weeks ago I was gassed, worn down. I thought taking a little time off would help, and it has too a point. But I'm still absolutely dreading my workouts. I think it is squats, because I look forward to bench and chin and all the other stuff, but I absolutely dread squats lately. I've been doing them for a year and am doing nearly 1.5x body weight for reps, but I absolutely hate them now. I feel like I either need to replace heavy LBBS with some single leg work or snatches or something or I'm going to find it hard to get my ass to the gym when I'm supposed to.

I feel like if I'm not enjoying my workouts because of squats, I should find something different at least for awhile. Any suggestions? Maybe Bulgarian split squats, or pistols.... I don't know. And I'm going to be running a at least 3-4 days a week to get ready for a race in June.

I'm not going to be very popular for saying this, but you got to toughen up. You're not injuried, and you're just getting squat terror. As you add more weight to the bar, squats will become less fun. It could be that you're become overtrained/ hitting the end of whatever training cycle you're on, but that's only if your performance is suffering in the gym.

anyone know of any good iphone/ipod touch fitness journal apps? Just want something simple to put down my reps that isn't cumbersome.

A composition notepad with an extra pen for when you lose/break the first one.

 

[Munin]

Same for me, I hate squats and the way they exhaust my body makes me feel sick. I still put up with it, but what frustrates me most is that it's the single lift with which I haven't made a lot of progress, so it often feels like I'm torturing myself for nothing.

 

[cuevas. PhD.]

anyone know of any good iphone/ipod touch fitness journal apps? Just want something simple to put down my reps that isn't cumbersome.

Switch to stronglifts 5x5, they have a great app just for it.

 

[kylej]

anyone know of any good iphone/ipod touch fitness journal apps? Just want something simple to put down my reps that isn't cumbersome.

I just use the basic yellow Notes app that comes with iOS.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

I had constand hip flexor pain when I went too heavy on lower-body movements. Ended up needing to take a while off, as tendons and ligaments heal slowly. I used advil, nearly-complete rest and hot tubs / ice to keep it down.

Thanks for sharing this. I wish I had access to a hot tub...you think a sauna or steam room would work just as well?

If dedlifts and squat are pissing off your hip, I don't imagine that power cleans are going to feel any better. I would probably get it checked out, along with your squat form.

Oh I completely agree. I'll be avoiding them for sure until I'm healed. I'm still interested in the answer to my original question, though, for when I do eventually start back up. And I'm still not convinced my hip injury was due to poor form, but I am long overdue for a form check video anyway, so when I start back up I'll post some here for comments. I'm looking to switch from high-bar squats to low-bar squats anyway so I'll probably need the critique.

I guess that leads me to an additional question: what do I do to fill up my workouts? Just hit my upper body extra hard? Throw in extra upper-body accessory exercises?

 

[IceCold]

I actually like doing squats. Although lately I've been having a lot of difficulties in increasing the weight. The exercise that I dislike the most is actually bench lol. I just find it awkward for some reason. But maybe it's because of my form.

 

[grumble]

Thanks for sharing this. I wish I had access to a hot tub...you think a sauna or steam room would work just as well?



Oh I completely agree. I'll be avoiding them for sure until I'm healed. I'm still interested in the answer to my original question, though, for when I do eventually start back up. And I'm still not convinced my hip injury was due to poor form, but I am long overdue for a form check video anyway, so when I start back up I'll post some here for comments. I'm looking to switch from high-bar squats to low-bar squats anyway so I'll probably need the critique.

I guess that leads me to an additional question: what do I do to fill up my workouts? Just hit my upper body extra hard? Throw in extra upper-body accessory exercises?

Well, if you want to give your lower body some rest from weights, then it's an ideal time to work on your cardio (which is usually lower-body dominant). Go biking or something, and yeah use the additional metabolic recovery window to focus on upper body workouts. You'll need to do a lot more for your midsection though as not using your legs in compound movements will also weaken your midsection.

 

[Cooter]

Most hated exercise....Hmm. I guess I'll go with...Fuck! I don't hate any of them. My least favorite would probably be deadlifts.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

A little old but I was catching up on the thread and wanted to inject my opinion. I prefer to separate back and bis and chest and tris. Chest and back is my main concern and I have found that doing the secondary muscle on the same day doesn't allow me to get the most out of my primary. Also, when you do tris/bis on separate days you get the advantage of hitting them twice a week.

Here is my current routine:

Mon: Chest/bi
Tues: Legs
Wed or Thurs: Delts/tris
Fri or Sat: Back/delts

Take it or leave it but it has worked for me. I will mix the pairings but never put chest/tris and back/bis on the same day.

On a side note I benched 295 4 times today. PB for me.

I can't do biceps anymore due to my elbow problem but I've found that I haven't lost size in them due to the other back and tricep workouts.

And my routine is similar to yours, except I do:

M-Chest
T-Back
W-Legs
Th-Shoulders and triceps

If work is killing me for the week, I do chest, back, and triceps on one day (3 exercises/3 sets each body part) and then legs and shoulders on another day.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

Least favorite exercise would have to be hanging leg raises, those things are brutal and no fun at all.

A little old but I was catching up on the thread and wanted to inject my opinion. I prefer to separate back and bis and chest and tris. Chest and back is my main concern and I have found that doing the secondary muscle on the same day doesn't allow me to get the most out of my primary. Also, when you do tris/bis on separate days you get the advantage of hitting them twice a week.

Here is my current routine:

Mon: Chest/bi
Tues: Legs
Wed or Thurs: Delts/tris
Fri or Sat: Back/delts

Take it or leave it but it has worked for me. I will mix the pairings but never put chest/tris and back/bis on the same day.

On a side note I benched 295 4 times today. PB for me.

In regard to that I would simply do the primary before moving to the secondary. So all back first, then biceps. But I could see wanting to do it your way too.

That's just me though, I was more trying to free up some time for him because he's on a 5 day a week run.

 

[Mr.City]

Thanks for sharing this. I wish I had access to a hot tub...you think a sauna or steam room would work just as well?



Oh I completely agree. I'll be avoiding them for sure until I'm healed. I'm still interested in the answer to my original question, though, for when I do eventually start back up. And I'm still not convinced my hip injury was due to poor form, but I am long overdue for a form check video anyway, so when I start back up I'll post some here for comments. I'm looking to switch from high-bar squats to low-bar squats anyway so I'll probably need the critique.

I guess that leads me to an additional question: what do I do to fill up my workouts? Just hit my upper body extra hard? Throw in extra upper-body accessory exercises?

You should probably just progress as you were on the upper body lifts. The thing I'm wondering about is what type of pain do you feel?

 

[Cooter]

Least favorite exercise would have to be hanging leg raises, those things are brutal and no fun at all.




In regard to that I would simply do the primary before moving to the secondary. So all back first, then biceps. But I could see wanting to do it your way too.

That's just me though, I was more trying to free up some time for him because he's on a 5 day a week run.

I thought about that after I posted it. I'm so stuck on my routine of supersetting 2 muscle groups that I forgot people do one muscle and move onto another. lol

 

[Ashhong]

SL 5X5 is a starter routine like SS. If you've already been doing SS, I'd stick with it and keep progressing as long as you can still make progress. In addition, why reset your weight to 50% when you don't have to?

If you do go with SL, 5X5 is meant for the very beginner. The extra sets are meant for form work and practice. As your workload increases, you drop the number of sets after two deloads to 3X5 then 1X5 and finally switch to an intermediate program. You've already learned the form and made decent progress. If you switch to SL, you'd probably start with 3X5.

I'm doing SL 5x5 right now but don't really consider myself a beginner. I don't see anywhere on the site a program to switch it to 3x5. Not sure what weight I should start at if I were to do 3x5 instead of 5x5.

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

Bent over rows and T bar rows in the same back session? I am hitting the middle upper back, but I don't know if my B.O.Rs are also engaging the upper middle back too

I've been trying to train a bit smarter and quicker, and train two body parts per week. But I'm having trouble cutting down on my vital exercises. For example on back day, Pullups, bent over rows, T bar rows, 1 arm rows, hyper extensions are my bread and butter. But I don't know how to work it into a 4 day x2 split.

Going to put a little plan together now. My competition is precisely 9 months away, and I have about 2 more month of un-natural bulking (weight gainer), then 3 months of maintenance/lean bulk, then 4 months of getting the weight down to competition levels. SO I am for planning for the future.

This is the hardest part! I hate leaving out exercises and putting in cardio

 

[Timedog]

In 1 cycle (Took me like 9 days instead of a week because of my schedule, but whatever), I've went from 155-225x5x3 on squat, 155-250x5x3 on deadlift, and 155-185x5x3 on bench. Yeeeeeaaaaah.

 

[snoopen]

I'm assuming they're pounds and not kgs Timedog? Great work.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

You should probably just progress as you were on the upper body lifts. The thing I'm wondering about is what type of pain do you feel?

Hmm, not sure what you mean by "type" of pain? Could you elaborate?

My hip isn't just bothering me at the gym while I do exercises, if that's what you're after (just a guess given the suggestion about a form check). I'm getting pain in my hip doing day-to-day activities, not just under the stress/load of weightlifting. That's why I've decided to be very cautious and just let it heal.

It's hard for me to pinpoint the exact motions that trigger it, but most of them involve some sort of rotation. For example, if I bring my right leg up and around to step over a bench if facing it from one side, which involves my torso rotating and my left leg staying still, that sets it off. Or if I'm sitting or standing and rotate my hips and knees inward.

I'm happy to take this up over PM if you're curious beyond this, I don't want to clutter the thread with my injury issues. Thanks again for your suggestions up to now.


.

 

[BlueScrote]

In 1 cycle (Took me like 9 days instead of a week because of my schedule, but whatever), I've went from 155-225x5x3 on squat, 155-250x5x3 on deadlift, and 155-185x5x3 on bench. Yeeeeeaaaaah.

Those are some impressive improvements. Are you doing SS and increasing the weight every workout?

 

[kylej]

Bent over rows and T bar rows in the same back session? I am hitting the middle upper back, but I don't know if my B.O.Rs are also engaging the upper middle back too

Yeah they definitely hit your upper middle back.

The one-arm dumbbell row, when performed correctly, is one of the most versatile "bang for your buck" upper body exercises in your arsenal. The movement involves scapular retraction and depression, along with spinal extension and compression through the thoracolumbar region, and also acts as a core stabilization exercise through anti-rotation and anti-flexion.

The latissimus is one of the only muscles to run directly over the vertebrae of the thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine, with direct tie-ins through the SI joint, making it an important exercise for back pain sufferers. Additionally, it helps develop thickness through the upper and mid back that's difficult to get through deadlifting or squatting alone, and helps improve scapular mechanics.

The row is typically intended to work the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, lower traps, and erector spinae, and requires a large degree of stabilization from the rotator cuff. This means that if you're doing it correctly, you should feel the muscles between and below your shoulder blades working like crazy.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/deconstructing_the_dumbbell_row

 

[JB1981]

In 1 cycle (Took me like 9 days instead of a week because of my schedule, but whatever), I've went from 155-225x5x3 on squat, 155-250x5x3 on deadlift, and 155-185x5x3 on bench. Yeeeeeaaaaah.

Not be a d*ck but it is highly unlikely that you increased your squat 70lbs in 9 days.

 

[JB1981]

A little old but I was catching up on the thread and wanted to inject my opinion. I prefer to separate back and bis and chest and tris. Chest and back is my main concern and I have found that doing the secondary muscle on the same day doesn't allow me to get the most out of my primary. Also, when you do tris/bis on separate days you get the advantage of hitting them twice a week.

Here is my current routine:

Mon: Chest/bi
Tues: Legs
Wed or Thurs: Delts/tris
Fri or Sat: Back/delts

Take it or leave it but it has worked for me. I will mix the pairings but never put chest/tris and back/bis on the same day.

On a side note I benched 295 4 times today. PB for me.

Can you elaborate on the type of lifts you are doing for each day? I am thinking of doing a split like this and wanted to get ideas.

 

[Echoes of Pink]

I'm doing SL 5x5 right now but don't really consider myself a beginner. I don't see anywhere on the site a program to switch it to 3x5. Not sure what weight I should start at if I were to do 3x5 instead of 5x5.

In weight lifting, they tend to use the word beginner to describe anyone that can continue to make workout to workout progress. This would mean that you you can do X one night then X+5 the next. If you can still pack on weight from workout to workout, you should take pride in the beginner tag haha. Maybe the word novice would be better to describe the situation.

Anyway, you need to sign up for the free 5X5 report on SL's website to get the detailed program. The website just has the basics if I recall. The program boils down to the following:

1. Start with an empty bar

2. Add 5 pounds of weight every time you complete 5 sets of 5 reps

3. Continue this plan until you stall (can't complete 5 sets of 5 reps) on a individual lift 3 times in a row.

4. Deload that individual lift by 10%. Drop the weight and work your way back up and hopefully beyond

5. Continue this plan until you stall 3 more times and hit a second deload of 10%

6. Once you deload twice on an individual lift, you drop the number of sets to 3

7. Continue with sets of 3 on this individual lift until you go through another sequence of 2 deloads

8. After two deloads, drop the number of sets to 1 and continue until you deload twice

9. Once you've deloaded twice from 1X5, you're now ready for an intermediate program

That's the basics. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Echoes of Pink]

Thanks for sharing this. I wish I had access to a hot tub...you think a sauna or steam room would work just as well?

Oh I completely agree. I'll be avoiding them for sure until I'm healed. I'm still interested in the answer to my original question, though, for when I do eventually start back up. And I'm still not convinced my hip injury was due to poor form, but I am long overdue for a form check video anyway, so when I start back up I'll post some here for comments. I'm looking to switch from high-bar squats to low-bar squats anyway so I'll probably need the critique.

I guess that leads me to an additional question: what do I do to fill up my workouts? Just hit my upper body extra hard? Throw in extra upper-body accessory exercises?

I had a similar problem to you recently. At the time, I was squatting atg, high bar. The strain in my hips started small and got slightly worse until I really strained myself during one set. I ended up taking 2-3 weeks off of lower body work. During that time, I continued to do upper body normally.

After the pain went away, I reset the bar to empty and learned to low bar squat. I then added 15 pounds a workout until the weight became taxing again. Low bar squatting feels a lot better because the weight is distributed more on your hamstrings and glutes. I'm back to squatting near where I got injured, and I no longer feel that strain in my hip area.

tl;dr rest your lower body for a while, learn to low bar squat, see if that helps

 

[parrotbeak]

Hmm, not sure what you mean by "type" of pain? Could you elaborate?

My hip isn't just bothering me at the gym while I do exercises, if that's what you're after (just a guess given the suggestion about a form check). I'm getting pain in my hip doing day-to-day activities, not just under the stress/load of weightlifting. That's why I've decided to be very cautious and just let it heal.

It's hard for me to pinpoint the exact motions that trigger it, but most of them involve some sort of rotation. For example, if I bring my right leg up and around to step over a bench if facing it from one side, which involves my torso rotating and my left leg staying still, that sets it off. Or if I'm sitting or standing and rotate my hips and knees inward.

I'm happy to take this up over PM if you're curious beyond this, I don't want to clutter the thread with my injury issues. Thanks again for your suggestions up to now.
.

I think a bunch of us have had hip pains so would find the discussion interesting, unless it's not something you want to go into detail with.

As others have said, rest seems to be the best thing when it happens to me, although I have never taken a break from stair runs and elliptical HIIT. I'll go slower but I still do them. I do hold off on the leg swing dynamic stretch, which can be too much. I back off on lunges and single leg work.

 

[Brolic Gaoler]

I think a bunch of us have had hip pains so would find the discussion interesting, unless it's not something you want to go into detail with.

As others have said, rest seems to be the best thing when it happens to me, although I have never taken a break from stair runs and elliptical HIIT. I'll go slower but I still do them. I do hold off on the leg swing dynamic stretch, which can be too much. I back off on lunges and single leg work.

My hip/back pain went away pretty quick. I just did some psoas stretches and didn't squat on the deload week. I did everything else.

I probably got lucky the pain occured right before deload though.

It may have just been tendonitis or some other minor injury.

 

[mrbagdt]

workout yesterday had thirteen sets of 28 situps and now i have a raw spot by my tailbone. terrible!

 

[Cooter]

Can you elaborate on the type of lifts you are doing for each day? I am thinking of doing a split like this and wanted to get ideas.

Sure but I'm gonna have to do it tonight. Check back.

Weighed myself this morning after weeks of not. 188. Can't believe I gained with my diet.

 

[Luscious LeftFoot]

workout yesterday had thirteen sets of 28 situps and now i have a raw spot by my tailbone. terrible!

WAT?

 

[HarryHengst]

workout yesterday had thirteen sets of 28 situps and now i have a raw spot by my tailbone. terrible!

Im not sure if you are serious or not. :lol

 

[mrbagdt]

serious. when i got in the shower later it became clear what had happened. burned terribly.

 

[HarryHengst]

Why would you ever do so many situps? Or situps at all.

 

[mrbagdt]

i didnt realize it was uncool to do sit ups, my bad. it was just part of the workout. go back to squat talk!

 

[lenovox1]

i didnt realize it was uncool to do sit ups, my bad. it was just part of the workout. go back to squat talk!

Well, sonny boy, it's not just uncool. They're pretty bad for your back and they're not very effective compared to other core workouts.

 

[Cheeto]

i didnt realize it was uncool to do sit ups, my bad. it was just part of the workout. go back to squat talk!

Its not that situps aren't an efficient use of workout time like other things...situps are just bad for you in general

 

[Natural]

Its not that situps aren't an efficient use of workout time like other things...situps are just bad for you in general

How comes sit ups are bad for you? I only ever do them at boxing but am interested as to why it's bad.

 

[Deleted member 12837]

I had a similar problem to you recently. At the time, I was squatting atg, high bar. The strain in my hips started small and got slightly worse until I really strained myself during one set. I ended up taking 2-3 weeks off of lower body work. During that time, I continued to do upper body normally.

After the pain went away, I reset the bar to empty and learned to low bar squat. I then added 15 pounds a workout until the weight became taxing again. Low bar squatting feels a lot better because the weight is distributed more on your hamstrings and glutes. I'm back to squatting near where I got injured, and I no longer feel that strain in my hip area.

tl;dr rest your lower body for a while, learn to low bar squat, see if that helps

That's promising to hear, and reinforces my decision to move to low-bar. How much weight were you squatting before the hip strain got bad for that one set? I was only up to about 230 before I first starting noticing the hip pain.

I think resetting completely on squats will be important. I'll probably drop my deadlifts down significantly too once I get back to lower body workouts.

I think a bunch of us have had hip pains so would find the discussion interesting, unless it's not something you want to go into detail with.

As others have said, rest seems to be the best thing when it happens to me, although I have never taken a break from stair runs and elliptical HIIT. I'll go slower but I still do them. I do hold off on the leg swing dynamic stretch, which can be too much. I back off on lunges and single leg work.

I don't mind if y'all don't mind. Regarding cardio, I plan on switching to a bike or rowing machine for the first couple of weeks, and then ease myself back into running as I start feeling better.

My hip/back pain went away pretty quick. I just did some psoas stretches and didn't squat on the deload week. I did everything else.

I probably got lucky the pain occured right before deload though.

It may have just been tendonitis or some other minor injury.

I've always wondered about stretching with an injury. I feel like stretching an irritated tendon or ligament might just make it worse, or at the very least slow down the healing process. Anyone know if that's really the case or not?

Which psoas stretches did you do that helped, and how often?

 

[mrbagdt]

so you guys are saying that you should never, under any circumstance, do a sit up? i mean, yea, i agree that there are other core exercises that could be considered 'better' like l-hold, knee to elbow, toe to bar, etc. but i cant believe there is no place for it in exercise as long as you can do them without injuring yourself. this workout i was referring to was 2 deadlift, 2 power cleans, 2 front squat, 2 thrusters and 2 ohs (set your weight on what you can ohs since thats the most difficult part), then 28 sit ups. i dont think its that ridiculous to do sit ups there.

 

[ezrarh]

How comes sit ups are bad for you? I only ever do them at boxing but am interested as to why it's bad.

You can find the article here. Basically - situps are putting a strain on your back at its weakest point. It also doesn't help that when people do situps, they're doing 20+ for many sets. Think of bending over and lifting something without using your legs (rounding your back), it's the same thing, except you're lying down.

Although I would like to see a science article on this. Don't have any links at the moment.

edit: and even if they don't hurt you, they're just inefficient.

 

[lenovox1]

How comes sit ups are bad for you? I only ever do them at boxing but am interested as to why it's bad.

I did some grueling research

Spoiler

by searching this thread

, and found this:

Yes it is, but it isn't designed for the repeated motion of situps.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newswe...op-doing-sit-ups-why-crunches-don-t-work.html

You are hurting yourself severely in the long-run.

ETA: Too late!

so you guys are saying that you should never, under any circumstance, do a sit up? i mean, yea, i agree that there are other core exercises that could be considered 'better' like l-hold, knee to elbow, toe to bar, etc. but i cant believe there is no place for it in exercise as long as you can do them without injuring yourself. this workout i was referring to was 2 deadlift, 2 power cleans, 2 front squat, 2 thrusters and 2 ohs (set your weight on what you can ohs since thats the most difficult part), then 28 sit ups. i dont think its that ridiculous to do sit ups there.

Try to avoid situps. And for your case, you don't actually have to do situps. You could easily replace them with something like planks.

I've always wondered about stretching with an injury. I feel like stretching an irritated tendon or ligament might just make it worse, or at the very least slow down the healing process. Anyone know if that's really the case or not?

As someone who dances for a living, I've never heard that. As far as I know, it doesn't actually help or hurt anything. But it sure does help make you both feel better and stave off any tightness.

 

[Veezy]

How comes sit ups are bad for you? I only ever do them at boxing but am interested as to why it's bad.

The strain on your lower back. In addition they're not very good at actually strengthening the core muscles nor are they the best at adding definition in comparison with other, less dangerous, movements.

Dragon Flags, hanging leg raises, planks, kneeling cable pull downs, really heavy dumbell sidebends, suitcase deadlifts, and any compound movement involving serious core stability (deadlifts, standing shoulder press, squats) are better for making a stronger and, with a low enough body fat, defined core. At the bare minimum, sit ups should be done with either an ab mat (do a google search) or a towel/pillow under the arch of the back to try and remove some of the quad dominance from the movement.

 

[Cheeto]

How comes sit ups are bad for you? I only ever do them at boxing but am interested as to why it's bad.

Unnecessary stress on your back and neck (likely if you put your hands behind your head). Not only that, but situps miss a crucial core muscles that should be strengthened. Specifically the muscles responsible for keeping your back healthy. So think about it, you're essentially harming your back while not doing anything to help your body deal with it.