01.31.08
Partial or Full
Squats. Good for you. Do them.
You might hear about the “partial vs. full” debate, that is, whether should you stop halfway down at parallel or continue until your butt hits the floor. I’m in the “full” camp; my dad, who I work out with, is in the “partial” camp. (Funny, though: after watching the Squat Rx series (see the end of this post for a link), my dad does quarter squats. So he doesn’t even do what he says I should do.) NROLFW shows “partial” squats. A lot of reputable internet sites show “full”.
Argh.
From what I’ve read, though, the main reason for listing partial squats is that most people can’t start with a full squat. Full squats require more hip, ankle, and hamstring flexibility and strength; more balance; and more lower back strength. So everyone starts with partials.
My dad claims that partial squats will hurt my knees. (Which is, of course, why I have fewer knee problems than he… Wait, huh? Yeah.) I try to show him information that says the opposite Krista on Stumptuous lists the myths of squatting; #1 is “Squatting must not be done with a full range of motion or you will hurt your knees”, but he doesn’t listen, not even when it’s information from Dave Draper’s forums (and my dad loves Dave Draper). He’s been doing partial squats for 20+ years, so he thinks that’s the only way to do things.
The conclusion I’ve reached is that full squats are better, but partials are all right if you can’t do full squats. But if you’re doing partials, start training to do fulls. Besides, if I’m training for real life function, far more things have to be picked up from the floor than from knee level.
Articles on squatting at Stumptuous:
- Learning the Squat: Part 1: Debunking the Myths
- Learning the Squat: Part 2: Why Squat?
- Learning the Squat: Part 3: How to Squat
- Learning the Squat: Part 4: Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting
- Lurn 2 Squat Good — E-ZY!
- From Dork to Diva: The Squat
Video squat series: post at JP Fitness.
Permalink Comments off
01.30.08
NROLFW, Stage 1, A3
I’m losing track of days, and it’s easier to identify which stage and workout I’m on, anyway. So…there.
I’ve started getting up and eating, then taking another half hour or so to wake up. I’m still obviously not all that awake, though: this morning I did 2×15 on squats, and it’s supposed to be 2×12. Doh.
I got to use my power rack this morning for squats, finally! However, the rack is for Olympic bars, and the bars we have are (much, much) shorter. So loading the bar was a trip. But, oh the difference the rack makes! No more clean & press that wears out my shoulders. I’ve been watching some of the Squat Rx series, though, and I think my form needs some work; I think my glutes are doing hardly any work. Lazy bum 
I have the safety bars set at almost the lowest position because I do full squats. My dad complained again today that I have them too low (i.e., he doesn’t want me to do full squats). I so wanted to point out that he was hardly doing quarter squats over on his side, but I bit my tongue. We have this argument every time I squat. I don’t even want to convert him anymore. But how do I at least convince him to let me be?
I still feel like a wimp when I look at my weights; they’re low, and when I try to increase them, I can’t. Tried 50 lbs on the squats: got 5. (Granted, that was more than 200% of what I did last week, but still…I want to do that and more.) Tried 25 lbs on step ups: got 3. On the rows and pull downs (now using the pulleys on the power rack), I’m not yet used to how much weight I can use. And to fuel all my inadequacies, I see other ladies’ online training logs and they’re throwing out much higher numbers.
Patience. Must learn patience. Now.
Permalink Comments off
01.28.08
NROLFW, Day 9: Oof
I work out first thing in the morning. Get up, pour a cup of coffee, and hit the weights. After the workout, coffee + ice + protein = yum.
NROLFW–and everyone else–recommends that you eat first. But I usually get nauseated if I have anything on my stomach… Then again, I’ve been getting nauseated anyway…so this morning I decided to try eating first. Ezekiel bread + peanut butter. I don’t know that I noticed any difference, but that was probably because I was too busy trying to not knock myself in the head with my dumbbells. I didn’t get sick, though, so that’s a good thing.
But then, because I had to wait about 30 minutes before working out, I didn’t have time to eat breakfast, so I had to have a protein shake and half a bagel as I ran out the door. Three more protein shakes are scheduled for snacks. I like my protein shakes, but eating food is definitely better. I’ll have to cook a batch of something tonight (probably chicken. It’s always chicken=P).
(My power rack is up and kicking! And my itty-bitty Swiss ball (55 cm) is actually bigger than I thought. And the foam roller is my new best friend.)
Permalink Comments off
01.27.08
NROLFW, Day 8: I believe
Last week I said that I was unsure about the calories I calculated for NROLFW. They just looked so high! Non-workout days, 1900 calories; workout days, 2200 calories. I admit, I was sure I would either gain or not budge.
But guess what? I lost 1.6 lbs of fat and gained 1 lb of muscle over this last week. Whoa. Just… whoa.
It took me one workout on Alwyn’s plan to believe that he would kick my butt. One week on Cassandra’s calories, and I believe her now, too. If I can eat this much and still lose weight, then you’ll get no complaints from me! 
Yes, the numbers look high. And with eating as healthfully as I can, that’s a lot of food! (Some days, more than I think I can eat!). But, I’m losing weight. I’m stuffing my face and losing weight.
(Hey, maybe those “eat whatever you want and still lose weight” commercials are– no, no, they’re still wrong. They rely on quick-fix pills that do nothing to build muscle or cut out junk food. Get off the pill = meet your messed-up metabolism.)
Take-home lesson: Eat more, especially more protein.
Now I’m off to finally start setting up my power rack & lat pull. Whee!…
Permalink Comments off
01.26.08
NROLFW, Day 7: Ouch!
A bad ouch, not a good ouch 
My best friend J is in town, so this morning we went running on the trail. (She hated to run in college, but I dragged her out; now she drags me!) And after about a quarter mile, my right knee flared up again. I stuck it out for a little while longer but finally got to the point where I could hardly walk. Ow ow ow ow ow ow!
J wanted to talk and walk, and I don’t get to see her nearly enough, so we walked a while further and then turned back. Every step was so painful. It still hurts now, hours later.
My knee feels like someone took a 2×4 to the outside of it. One good whack. It feels worst when going down stairs and best when folded up. The last time this happened, I found this article on patellofemoral syndrome, which sounds a lot like what I’ve got. I know, self-diagnosis probably isn’t a good idea, but I don’t want to go to a doctor, especially if he’s just going to tell me it’s patellofemoral syndrome.
I hope I can walk by Monday. Step one, watch form on squats. (Well, Monday is deads, so I’ll get a break.) Step two, focus on step-ups. (Already part of the workout… Hmmm.) Step three, stop running. (Wait, I already did. Ha!) Seriously, though, I think I’ll stop wearing my heels (gah!) for a few weeks; I might need to replace my running shoes, too.
I picked up a foam roller today, too. I’ve heard good things about them, though I admit I’m mostly skeptical. I don’t know if that will help with my knee, but I’ll try just about anything to get this knee working again.
Weekends are harder for me to eat right; my schedule is less set, and there are more chances that I won’t be home or near food at feeding time. I took the makings for protein shakes with me today, but still ran out so I’m behind on my nutrients. No sweat, though–I’ll just be sure to hit everything again tomorrow.
Permalink Comments off
Always Eating
You’re always eating!
I’m hearing that a lot at work recently. I eat 5 meals/day and am working on adding a 6th at night. While at work, I eat 3 of those meals: snack1 (Second Breakfast), lunch, and snack2 (is that Tea?). So I’m in the break room 3 times/day and often run in to coworkers getting coffee.
Each meal, I’m aiming for 25-35 g protein, 25-35 g carb, and some fat. Fat is good (well, good fat is good). For the snacks, I use a mocha cappuccino protein shake because of the low volume and include a carb + fat. Snacks are generally 200 calories; meals, 300-500.
Even with breaking all this food up throughout the day, I still sometimes have a hard time eating it all. Once you cut out most of the junk food, you find that the healthful options usually don’t have nearly as many calories so you have to eat more. So not only am I “always eating”, but I’m often making myself eat more than I really want to!
People try to ask delicately, “If you’re always eating, why aren’t you getting fat?” (The men, especially, try really hard not to say that the wrong way. I do quickly put them out of their misery, though.) It’s the “always eating,” though, that answers most of the question: eating smaller meals at regular intervals throughout the day ensures that my body never runs out of available nutrients so it never goes after my muscle tissues.
Of course, even if you’re “always eating”, the type of food you eat is still important. Eating junk food more often isn’t going to slow down waistline expansion.
Permalink Comments off
01.25.08
NROLFW, Day 6: 1A2
I still look at the weights I’m about the lift and think, “How wimpy.” And then after my sets, I’m jelly-legged, sweating, and panting. Now who’s wimpy?
The power rack isn’t set up yet, so my squats are still low weight… which might not be a bad thing =P.
Oh, and I had a lovely *headdesk* moment this morning. (There is one big problem with working out immediately after waking up: my brain is still very much asleep.) On the supersets, I wasn’t resting between the two exercises. But today I realized that I’m supposed to so that the just-worked muscles get an even bigger rest. Doh. Next time…
I was reading in the book about the lats and how far they extend. After Wednesday’s workout, I know exactly where my lats are. Hi, lats! My hamstrings are also still saying “Hi.” Whootness.
Permalink Comments off
01.24.08
NROLF, Day 5: Power Rack!
Technically, it was last night, but I bought my power rack! It’s still in boxes in the garage, but perhaps tonight or Saturday night my dad and I can put it together. I bought a pulley system with it, too, with a high and a low pulley so now I can do Lat Pulldowns and Seated Rows. (And if I can borrow a digital camera, I’ll put up pictures!)
I’ve been tracking my calories and macronutrients at SparkPeople. I’m hitting the total calorie mark for each day, and I’m getting at least my protein minimum. But I think I’m too high on the carbs (over 50% most days) and too low on the fat. There’s the problem with everything being “low fat”: I can’t get enough fat!
I stopped by Max Muscle last night, too, and picked up more glutamine (both the powder and some chewables) and some EFA capsules. So now my supplements look like this:
- Max High5 protein (Mocha Cappuccino!), 2x/non-workout, 3x/workout day
- Glutamine powder, with protein
- EFA, 2 capsules 2x/day, morning & evening
- Syner-B12, 1 tablet 1x/day, morning
- Vitacell, 2 tbsp 1x/day, morning
- Glutamine Chewables (orange), 2 wafers, evening, every day; 2 wafers, morning, non-workout days
Only the EFA capsules have to be swallowed, which is good because I hate swallowing anything. I have to hold my nose until I have no choice but to swallow. Ugh.
My hamstrings are still letting me know they’re here, and other muscles were cranky when I woke up. They’re loose now, but with enough twinges to remind me that they have done work.
Permalink Comments off
01.22.08
NROLFW, Day 3
Last night, after we’d been sitting waiting for our turn at the pool table, I stood up and my legs were stiff. It took me a minute to loosen up again. This morning, I can definitely feel my hamstrings and my abs. They all have been worked and worked well.
*le sigh* I want to lift again…
Permalink Comments off
