Leego

Well, actually, that's what I was thinking of doing, is bodyweight workouts. And since I don't really like the idea of doing anything that I can't effectively do in certain living conditions, and never really liked the idea of putting a bunch of weight on my back and then squatting with it, I might just stick with bodyweight training. I don't even care about being the strongest, as long as I lose weight, and have enough strength to handle myself and take care of others. I don't even care about having big muscles anymore. I've finally decided to stop being stubborn and just prop my left knee up and put ice on it...even though I may have to refill ice trays a LOT to keep the supply coming. I still try to do stretches, in hopes that it will help whatever's in my knee recover, but I'm worried about whether or not if it's doing some good, or more harm. For what it's worth, I'm now able to do bodyweight squats without knee pain, but I haven't tried to go past 10 yet.

You know, Silvo, I couldn't have said it better myself. Though, I would call it "information overload". Everyone's giving me all of these good ideas for workouts, which IS what I asked for, but then I get cold feet on which one to start with, and I overthink about which one may or may not work. I COULD just choose one, but then I think, "what if it isn't as good as that one?" I know one thing's for sure, SS didn't work too well for me, and it took me a month of doing it to find out. At least I tried? But since you are an active NF member, and since you're not only someone if you're own professional blog and workout programming, I'm going to follow your bodyweight plans. And it's true...sadly, I find myself during the summer either not having much to do, or constantly thinking that I don't have time or space to do certain things. Sleeping right, counting calories, and timing everything right so I can keep going to the gym every MWF was hard work, but it did give me something to focus on and look forwards to each week, and it did give me the chance to go to a place where I can focus on myself guilt-free. I've just got to be careful about this knee and leg. I have no problem keeping myself busy in college, but for now, I'm going to try and apply for this RIFA volunteer thing, and if not go to the gym, then maybe practice playing the harmonica again, in the morning. If I go to the gym, and I can't volunteer after I'm done there, I might just go to the library.

God. At this point, I am literally asking both the NFR community and God, am I doing something wrong? Because it seems like every time I try to do something to prepare my body and help it, it just hurts me more, instead. I do warm-up sets with squats. I get to the actual set, and I end up finding myself not having enough strength and balance to push up from the bottom of the squat, and I go tumbling back. I do warm-up sets with squats the next time, and I hurt my left knee on the warm-up set with nothing but the bar. I try to do calf and leg stretches to help my sore left knee and shin, and my shin ends up feeling stiff and sore for the remainder of the night, AND my left knee still hurts a little. Now it's been about two weeks since I've been to the gym, and I'm still feeling soreness in the left side in the center of my left shin, and the left side of my left knee. I would put ice on it, but then that means I would have to empty out all of the ice trays and hold a bag of ice to my leg and knee all day, which I can't do. I would take medication to help whatever's going on get fixed, but I can't do that, either. I would lay down all day and just rest my legs, but I can't do that at home because of all the chores and housework I find myself doing for two hours, and when I'm back in school, I've got to carry a backpack full of books to and across campus all day. Also, I feel like shit when I do nothing physical all day. I did try elevating my feet or knees last night, though. I think it helped some.

Well, sorry. The point I was trying to make is that kettleball swings are NOT a "chick thing". What's happened, is that I believe, or at least I believed in the past, that there were some exercise equipment or routines that were...not very efficient for men because they were aimed a women. Not to say that I believed that women CAN'T do the same exercises as men, I'm just saying that I thought there were some people who would try and sell the idea of equipment and exercise routines aimed specifically at women. I thought kettleballs were that. Then I did some research, and I was wrong, and now I will stop using that term now. Please spank me if I slip up and say it again. As for Dradis'es post, I DO want to combine things together, it's just that I am not entirely sure where to begin. I'm thinking of doing maybe a bodyweight circuit using the bodyweight essentials (demonstrated by Silvo/BaconHunter) with only 1 minute rest in between movements, and with 3 sets of whatever number of reps I need (30-50?), and throwing in some dumbbell use and shadow boxing, but then I raise even more questions for myself: If my bodyweight exercises are going to primarily be bodyweight, how heavy should the dumbbells and kettleballs be? Where would I use the dumbbells? In with the bodyweight squats with the dumbbells to the side? Or should I get a kettleball and do goblet squats? Can I practice pull-ups by training with my dumbbells? What if THEY aren't heavy enough? Is doing 5 sets of 50 bodyweight squats going to be too much for me? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. I can go find out. In the end, it seems to be a lot easier to just run a circuit with 5 sets of 50 reps with Silvo's bodyweight essentials WITHOUT equipment, and with only a minute's rest in between sets, until I have more time to research these things, because right now, I need to go outside. Maybe I'll do something like: 1x30 jumping jacks for warmup 3x50 bodyweight squats 3x50 inclined push-ups 3x50 pike push-ups 3x50 bodyweight rows 3x 60 sec. straight bridges And then whatever rep number I exhaust on will be my benchmark for progression to 50 reps each set.

Very neat. I do have this question: If I was to start using kettleballs, which weight should I start with? Also, I think I'm gonna just read up on and run BaconHunter's routine tomorrow, and see how it works for me. If I like it, understand it, and it seems to work, I will continue doing this progression and, if possible, combine it with kettleball training and shadow boxing...can I combine bodyweight training with kettleball training?

I like the sounds of what you're telling me. I am a bit surprised to hear that kettleballs actually work really well in training everything. For some reason, I had the idea in the back of my head that kettleballs are a "chick thing". I don't know why I thought that, but no more. I'll look into the links and advice everyone offered, but right now, I've been busy getting things in order for moving back to Memphis. Is there any way to incorporate dumbbell use in any of these routines? For some reason, I feel better when working out if I have something heavy to carry and push, and I already have dumbbells. I can put those in my backpack and "ruck" with those.

And I bet they rarely, if ever, have dumbbells, and barbells, and muscle belts, and resistance bands, and smith machines (lol), and pull-up machines, and etc. But I digress.

Those sound good. I will check them out. I got an idea: What do military guys usually do? I know that they most likely also lift weights, but don't a lot of their drills focus around bodyweight exercises?

I guess there's only one question left (probably not) for me to ask, for now: What bodyweight exercise routine would be suited for losing weight and building/maintaining strength? I will continue waiting for responses, in the meantime, I guess I'll just research some of BaconHunter's stuff, and also see what I can find on the web.

OK, I did. I'm some-what relieved to hear that, but I still don't want to lose the strength I've gained so far. It may be little strength, but goddammit, it's strength that I earned, and I have noticed small, positive differences in my life because of it. I guess I'll spend my fall semester focusing on weight loss, and focus on strength training in the second semester. For the sake of comforting myself, I guess I will say that, besides the IDEA of fireperson work and the IDEA of having huge muscles (which will take a few years at the least to gain), most of my physical goals mostly involves being able to move fast, and handle my own bodyweight. Nothing is going to get my ass smaller and help me handle my own bodyweight better than losing weight, and that can only be accomplished through diet and any form of exercise.

19 5 foot 9 inches (175.26 cm?) 280 lbs If I remember correctly for my starting: Squats: 40 lbs Bench Press: 56 lbs OHP: 40 lbs Deadlift: 80 lbs Power Cleans: 60 lbs Current: Squats: 100 lbs Bench Press: 85 lbs (working on 90 lbs) OHP: 75 lbs Deadlift: 145 lbs Power Cleans: 90 lbs

Well, if it helps me any, I have realized that through a little willpower, and through counting a lot of calories, I CAN eat at a calorie deficiency (which for me is eating 1,840 calories a day, or something like that) while at home. The hard part is keeping myself busy enough so that I won't feel the need to eat out of boredom, keeping myself from stressing too much so that I don't start stress-eating (isn't that a chick thing or something?), and making sure that the foods I eat actually have things that I need. You know, now that I think about it, if not getting stronger and not losing weight bothers me this much, why give up entirely for over a month, just because I'm suffering from some knee pain that I CAN take care of while also building strength, and just because I missed two days, not in a row?

But if you think I could benefit in both form and strength with bodyweight exercises, I'll gladly do those instead for a month. I never really liked the idea of trying to have my mom take me to the gym. It always makes me feel like a child, and I hate the feeling of not having control over my life and course of action. When I first started, I really only liked the idea of working with things that I know are a sustainable method, regardless of being homebound, or going travelling, or being stuck in the wilderness. For this reason, I was almost considering to just use dumbbells and bodyweight exercises at home as my exercise routine, but then I started to read all of these things about how I need to do barbell training to get a full-body workout as a beginner so that I can begin to get a base of strength, and then I think either my parents suggested that I go to the gym or I suggested it, and then they started making plans for how I could go, and that's how I started.

Well, my two main goals for now are to: Lose weight Build strength I really want to lose weight so that I can be more agile, and run faster, and just look and feel better. But because of my family's life schedule and eating habits, it's kind of difficult to eat right. So I figured it would be easier to focus on (prioritize) building strength. I want to build strength so that when I do lose weight, I will have a more, toned look. Also, I am planning on playing sports next semester, and if college doesn't work out, I'm thinking of starting a career in firefighting or something related. But I don't want to hang out at the gym all day, and I'm running out of places to go after the gym, since I don't have a vehicle, and I have very little money. This combined with the issues I've been having with my legs and knees, along with a little bit of social anxiety and unintentionally wearing out my welcome at my mom's workplace, and I'm ready to just give up until I can get back into Memphis and go to the rec on campus, but that would mean not lifting weights for roughly 4-7 weeks. Also, if I accidentally oversleep, or my mom has a day off or has to go do something else, I miss a work day. Just like this week, Monday, my legs were killing me, so I did nothing but practice stretches. Then Wednesday, I did bench presses and power cleans, but I skipped squats for the sake of my knees. Now on Friday, my mom's got a day off for a doctor appointment, so I can't go to the gym to practice my deadlifts and OHP, though honestly, I don't think my deadlifts are gonna suffer much, and my OHP is already a bitch (in a bad way). I guess it's not all bad that I miss this many days of a workout if I'm suffering from an injury or something, but every day I miss one, I feel like I'm further from my goals, and like if something happens while I'm in Memphis (i.e. a robbery, a car accident, a riot), I won't have the strength to help others, or defend myself, and I also won't have much to show for when I walk into their gym, and because I don't have strength anymore and didn't lose a lot of weight, no one will ever respect me.

Starting Strength has begun to feel like it's taking a toll on my body: Particularly my knees and legs. Also, I still need to improve my form, improve my flexibility, and work on learning some good full-body stretches. Also, I'm beginning to get tired of going to my gym and compete over the weightlifting racks whenever this group of racist housewives come in, and I'm running out of places to store lunch and go to after gym because my mom's co-workers are getting tired of me staying at her work place after gym. I've also realized that if I want to see significant improvement over how I look, how I feel, and how well I can move, as well as take some of the pressure off of my legs and knees, I need to lose weight, which is hard to do when I can barely control what I eat and how I eat when living at home. I'm thinking that it would be easiest for me and my family if I just took a break from weightlifting. That being said, I don't want to stop gaining strength, and I don't want to lose the progress I've made in strength training so far. I believe that my strength will be just as important as my dexterity and stamina when it comes to doing whatever it is that I plan on doing. So I've got this to ask: How much strength would I lose if I took a hiatus for 4 weeks? Is it possible to retain the strength I've already built (in terms of lbs) through bodyweight training? I've been doing this for a month now. Will my body now remember how to regain all of that strength.?

Oh, so kind of like push-ups, bodyweight squats, and jumping jacks for me? OK, then.

Also, you said you were going to do 20 minutes of yoga and functional stretching as a warmup? Now, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been told that stretching before a workout actually stiffens/exhausts/something your muscles, and actually makes you unable to lift as much weight, or even increase your chances of getting an injury. I've got source amnesia, so I'll provide a link to an article from Steve (which has a link to a more "scientific" article): http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/01/16/how-to-stretch/ That being said, you sound like someone who has been doing Yoga for at least a little while, and I myself have not been doing proper stretches like I should have been for the last month, and probably have a hurt knee from it, so I'm not that qualified to be talking right now.

Ah, so you know the feeling! Thank you! I've gotten to the point where I question whether or not if I should show sympathy or concern for others in real life, since most of the time I usually try to, people tend to respond with a cold shoulder or something. Maybe it's just my perception. Maybe it has something to do with my first impression or how I look or speak that makes me come off as insincere or creepy. I can honestly say that I don't get the same response here on the forums. Probably for the reasons you just mentioned, with the added anonymous status, and the added safety and lack of body language due to being behind a computer screen.

So, I'm trying to do quad stretches, hamstring stretches, and quad stretches, is it normal for them to feel like my legs are on fire while I'm doing them? Because I can easily lift weights without feeling much pain at all, even from it's strain, but when I stretch, I want to whimper. I was worried that I injured my knee, and I think I have lightly injured it, but from what I'm reading, and judging by how my left ankle hurts sometimes, and my calves, left leg, and lower back feel sore, it sounds like I've got tight muscles and am not stretching enough. And I'll be honest, I've been skipping stretches after weightlifting. Now I wish I would have paid attention in Yoga class. D: My thighs are poppin' and everything.

Good advice! Just what I was thinking of doing. I'm wondering if I should even do power cleans today. Quickly deadlifting and throwing up a bunch of heavy weight while jumping with it and doing a slight squat to give support for when I catch it, I'mma guess nah. And yet, I almost feel like letting my OCD kick in, and decide to not do any weightlifting until I can go back to safely doing squats, powercleans, and deadlifts, simply because I want my strengths and lifts to be as synchronized as possible, so I won't have to let them play catch up later, and I have to be cautious either way. I know that sounds silly, but I have to be cautious, and today, I can probably only do one weightlifting exercise safely, and that's bench pressing. Now I have to find a way to keep myself occupied at the gym for 4 hours. 0_o Are there any stretches I can do for a hurt knee and a stiff and sore lower back and legs?

Thank you for the links, everyone. And, no, I'm not entirely sure if my form is correct. I DO remember feeling stiff when I was squatting that day, and I think I was leaning over too much. Basically, what I got from James Wilson's video is: Ass out (no tail-tucking/butt under torso, back arched up), shoulder's stationary (staying put, not rising), knees stationary (not moving, not going beyond the toes), and squeeze the glutes (for extra butt-lifting power and workout). I tried doing what he said with my bodyweight just now, and even though I couldn't get a full squat because of limited space in my room, I did notice a lot of difference by putting most of my weight on my heels and keeping my knees stationary. My left knee didn't hurt at all...Not saying that I should now go and put 105 lbs on my back and do it again. I'm still not sure what to do about my knee, though. I feel like it's not the first time I've had this issue with it, and the last time I had this pain, it went away after a few days to, I guess, two weeks. Except then, I wasn't very physically active, and didn't pay it much mind. Then, I wasn't doing weightlifting. Then, the idea of not lifting weights for two weeks didn't bother me. I don't know whether or not if I need to walk more, lay down more, wear a brace, do proper bodyweight squats, do no squats, still do deadlifts and power cleans or not, stretch or not, what. Just walking around outside for awhile or even just turning around loosely when walking outside makes my knee feel a little funny, and I notice that if I walk too much, both my knee, upper leg, and lower thigh (right above the knee), all start to feel a little sore and stiff. But then again, maybe that's just from squatting, and is not an injury in and of itself. I figure that the worst thing that can happen if I play it safe and stop squatting or weightlifting for a week or two, is that I will lose two weeks of time worth MAX in building strength to recover and avoid risking a worse injury, and I will lose 5 pounds worth of strength in at least my squat, and I'll have to catch back up a little. The worst that can happen if I try and do heavy squats tomorrow even with a sore knee, is that I risk causing a tear or something that will lead to me collapsing with the weight, and end up with at least a much more serious knee injury that I can't afford to see a doctor for, and be out for a whole month, if not indefinitely. I still like the challenge and results of barbell training, but I almost want to say that I hope to switch to dumbbells or bodyweight training instead some day (even though I think it was bodyweight squats that hurt my knee to begin with), but that sounds like scared quitter talk. The only bad thing about barbell training is improper form. If I can get that right and take better care of myself, there's no reason to give it up.

You know, I just noticed that you post a lot in these forums, and that your title is "the Encourager". That's really nice.

Update: Today, I stood for 2-3 hours in the kitchen washing dishes and generally trying to think and keep myself occupied, and now the back of my knee feels sore and tired. Yet, when I did treadmill intervals yesterday for 1:30:00 (and burned 1,030 calories), my knee felt fine, except for when I would squat down. If possible, I'm just going to try and not walk or stand too much this weekend. I can honestly say, the squat is my 2nd least favorite exercise. I don't hate it, and I do think it's important, but it always feels so uncomfortable and dangerous. The only exercise I dislike more than the squat, is the overhead press, and it's not so much that I hate it for any particular reason, it's just the trickiest and most difficult lift to perform. Everything has to be done just right to lift that weight over my head.

So I just realized, that as of, I think either yesterday, I have now been doing weightlifting for a full 33 days. I have to say that, for a month of increasing weights by 5 lbs each time, I'm impressed with how fast I have been progressing. On my squats, I am about to reach 105 lbs. I WAS going to hit that mark yesterday, but for some reason, after I warmed up with body squats and was about to do a warm-up set, not only did I not feel entirely flexible enough in my legs and lower back to do a proper squat, but I began to feel a pinching pain behind m left knee. From what I've been told by one trainer, and according to what I've researched, it's either something called "Patellar tendinitis", or "Baker's cyst". Or maybe it isn't those, after reading. The pain is almost more like inside my knee, behind my knee cap, not actually behind my knee. Basically, it's where something in my knee is grinding against my knee cap because it isn't sitting right, and the best thing I can do for it is to let it rest by not doing squats for two weeks. It's so strange. It was so sudden, and my knee feels much better, now, but I'm a bit paranoid about squatting to find out, and I don't want to risk tearing something or popping a bone out of place. I might try to do squats again next Friday, but that's it. And I might use a knee brace, from now on. Besides that, I'm up to 145 lbs in deadlifting. I actually deadlifted before squatting, and instead of going from 135 lbs to 140 lbs, I went up to 145 lbs. I don't know if that had anything to do with my knee, but if it doesn't, I'm going to try and continue progressing by 10s on deadlifts until I hit 205 lbs. On my OHPs, I'm up to 75 lbs, and I almost did 80 lbs, yesterday. I did 1x3, and 1x4 with a push-press (or what's it called) assisting on the last rep. I didn't finish, though. I meant to, but I let myself get distracted and offended by someone at the gym. My bench presses and power cleans are up to 85 lbs, and I'm getting closer and closer to 105 lbs, on those. This was supposed to be a woot room post, but I've noticed that I express more concerns and failures here, rather than bragging. I mean, I really am happy to hit these milestones, but I'm more concerned about continuing.

Nice to see a new member! What is parkour like? I don't really know what aerial silks and poi spinning is, but I've always wanted to do parkour.