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There's actually a number of strength sports, where people who don't compete train similarly to competitors in those sports. A brief understanding of them will help you decide what would be a better match for you:
Bodybuilding is primarily building and shaping your muscle for aesthetics. However, there is a big nutritional component to bodybuilding that's ...
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Joe Micela's Minimums and Maximums
One of the foremost problems in my own strength training is that my strength work often gets pushed around by other athletic and social endeavors. I frequently find myself in a workout without the capability to hit the numbers as scheduled.
At the moment I've simply reduced total lifting volume, and that’s fine. Another ...
7
You will be severely limiting your strength gains. Note that I am talking about the amount of strength you will be able to gain, not just the rate of gaining strength.
In order to understand why, you have to understand a bit about General Adaptation Syndrome. Essentially, to disrupt homeostasis (the body's current happy place) to build strength you need ...
7
Starting Strength is an AB alternating workout, so if you were to do it once every week (or every other week) then you'd have almost a full month before you did the same workout again. This is definitely not optimal. However, since Starting Strength is such a balanced routine, it won't be the end of the world.
Now, some strength training will always be ...
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Your program can be improved by simplification and emphasis on objective metrics of progress.
Forget about creatine, BCAA, and other expensive supplements. You are so far away from your genetic potential that these are a waste of money. You can make incredible novice gains without them. (Multivitamin is a fine idea though.)
Drop the leg press, anything ...
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About the program
We don't know your size and shape, so we're in no position to second-guess your instructor. For now, go with what he says.
About the diet
Protein powder is something we use when our regular diet doesn't offer enough protein. It's a supplement, nothing more. It doesn't replace anything, it just adds.
You are right!
In most cases, you ...
6
If you're a complete beginner, you can both lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. A strength training program would be best suited to this (you can always focus more on muscle hypertrophy when you're already strong).
Stronglifts 5x5 is a good beginner's strength training program that's also free. You don't have to do exactly that, there are multiple ...
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I think your twin goals of strength and conditioning are good ones. You might consider adding mobility to that list at some later point, but those are the basics.
Strength First
Generally speaking, strength training should take precedence over conditioning, since strength carries over into conditioning challenges more than conditioning carries over into ...
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The Universe is an Uncaring Void
I've seen sources say "3x5" (three sets of five) but denote their workouts as 100x5x3 (100 pounds, 5 reps, 3 sets). I've also seen sources say "3x5" and write 3x5 and mean three sets of five in both cases. There is no clear answer to your question. YxZ is fundamentally ambiguous.
Show Your Units
In physics, I was taught to ...
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You help muscle growth all over your body by using heavy compound lifts. The two exercises that provide the biggest bang for your buck are full depth squats (to parallel) and deadlifts. These exercises target:
Calves
Hamstrings
Quadriceps
Gluteous
Upper and lower back
Abs
adductors and abductors (squats)
forearms (grip on the deadlifts)
biceps (supporting ...
6
Lots of questions, and hopefully I can help you piece things together. When combining weight training with any kind of a sport, you do have to keep in mind recovery. To that end, you have a couple options:
Tack it at the end of the week. This is a pretty sound idea. You still have a day of recovery between then and the next session. I used this ...
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Looking at your numbers, strength is not an issue if you are a local/regional level player, you are all set.
It looks like your biggest problem is the lack of mat time. 1 to 4 sessions a week is not enough and no amount of weight lifting is going to change that.
4 sessions a week is a minimum if you compete locally and you should be putting some serious ...
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You can try Smolov method for squating
How Smolov Works
The Russian Smolov Squat routine is split into 3 phases for a total of 13 weeks. As always, start with a weight you're 100% sure you can Squat instead of starting too heavy and hitting plateaus. The 4 Smolov cycles.
Weeks 1-2 - introduction cycle to prepare your legs. Week 1 you Squat 3 day in a row ...
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A program should be switched out when you feel like you're hitting a plateau, and are no longer progressing. If your program doesn't have a "here's what you do if you plateau", then switch it out.
As ever, variation is key, which means that unless your program has built-in variation for when progress stagnates, every program is only temporary.
It sounds ...
5
1. Measure up
First of all, if you're serious about your weight loss and subsequent bulking, you may consider buying a body fat caliper. You'll get much more precise values and you'll be able to measure progress more accurately. If you're not willing to spend the money or are not sure whether you can use a caliper, The other solution is having a ...
5
The first thing to realize is that if you have good knees, full depth squats are safe as has been stated on multiple occasions including a link to the kinesthetic breakdown of a squat. A squat and squat jump are two very different exercises though. A proper squat is much less impact on the knees than say running or jumping. Although there is some research ...
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The Knee
The knee joint bends. To avoid bending it in the interest of injury prevention is folly, since we know from experiment and experience that the dangerous exercise regimen is in fact the one that does not use the knee to its full capability. Like anything else in our body and mind, it's Use It Or Lose It.
The half-squat-half-deadlift, whether single ...
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Nothing inherently wrong in the math, just in the model you are using. As it turns out, Greg Nuckols just published an article on Muscle Math, which sheds some light on why it is simply not feasible in practice to go from 300x3 to 840 lbs in 1 year (52 weeks).
Some of the major take-aways are:
Recovery activities have a power law distribution (i.e. the ...
5
You can add cardio on off days if you wish, and if you do it right. The most important thing to consider is whether or not your body is getting proper recovery.
The reason Mehdi says not to change the routine at all is because when people do, it's almost always too much. The routine is already difficult, and a BIG aspect of the 5x5 SL routine is in its rest ...
5
Since your stated goals are to gain mass and to lose some bodyfat, I highly recommend that you consider the Starting Strength Program. With it, you can use your gym time much more efficiently and gain strength and useful bodymass much more quickly. When you're stronger, losing bodyfat is easier.
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"For example I always feel my quads after squatting and hardly ever feel my hamstrings."
This is because squatting is a quad dominant exercise, this is normal. Yes squats use your whole leg but you wouldn't 'feel it' in your hamstrings as much (if at all) than your quads.
"I can go to parallel but an attempt to go below results in form degradation "
Why ...
4
The first thing to know when creating a strength training program is that you need to work out all of the muscle groups to prevent injury or an awkwardly proportioned body (you don't want to look like the Hulk up top when you look like a stick figure down below). This being the case, there are two ways you can approach building a workout routine:
Do full ...
4
If they know what they're doing - and not giving obviously bad advice - go with 3, otherwise you can always go with 2.
If you do go with 2, and if your gym allows it, it might be helpful to record your lifts via your phone so that you can make certain you're not doing something wrong. This is far safer than trying to look in a mirror while, for example, ...
4
What you need is a rehab program to get you back to good shape, followed by a proper program to prevent the condition from happening again. I have to qualify my answer by the fact I am not a physical therapist, and I highly recommend you see one.
In general, rehab programs involve ridiculously light weight with ridiculously high repetitions. You will be ...
4
At the end of the day, calories in < calories out = weight loss. There is some mixed data about the amount of calories, and the textbook "3500 calories = 1 lb" is somewhat suspect according to more modern studies, and the way that different people react, but all the studies agree (Whether atkins, paleo, grapefruit, etc) that caloric deficit is the main ...
4
Ok, given your program and what you would like to do (Along with the upper body restrictions), here's what I would recommend.
Conditioning - I would concentrate on HIIT training for your lunch sessions, with an emphasis on agility and footwork drills. Leave the heavy lifting stuff for your lifting/mobility sessions. This will have the double effect of ...
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Judoka do not have as high V02max as other sports like bicycling, rowing. In this study LEVELS OF ANAEROBIC AND AEROBIC CAPACITY INDICES AND RESULTS FOR THE SPECIAL FITNESS TEST IN JUDO COMPETITORS. They have measured good judoka. They seem to be around 52 ml/kg/min . I think you can reach that in if your not already there in 45 days with Intervall/HIIT etc. ...
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Definitions
Powerlifting would be better called strengthlifting. It is training for strength using a barbell. It is a sport consisting of the squat, bench press, and deadlift, though powerlifting training often includes other similar exercises such as the overhead press as well as supplementary exercises such as power variants of the Olympic lifts, ...
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Something to consider:
Machines restrict your range of motion. You are going to have less restriction on range of motion with dumbbells. Generally this means that machines encourage good form. With dumbbells you will have to focus on form because there is no machine to do it for you.
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