Training questions

A few questions have popped into my head while training lately, I was hoping some of you more train savy people might have a few answers.

While doing hypertrophy or recruitment weight training are you constantly recording your own weight and making adjustments/tweaks to ensure higher loads? Or do you just ignore a few pounds here and there? I only ask because my weight changes daily from plus or minus 5 pounds=pretty signifigant difference!

How strict are you on your "rests" between reps? I find it extremely difficult to chalk up,restart the timer, and get back on the board within 5 seconds, especially if I am hopping into 2 finger pockets that take a little easing into. It normally takes me from 6-11 seconds to get back on, is this really affecting my gains?

After warming up for 30-40 minutes prior to really starting, does anyone soak their hands,shoulders, or other problem areas to "warm" up" said parts. Have any of you done ice baths afterwards, if so, results? Recovery powders using 4-carbs to 1-protein?

I keep track of my weight, but you might want to see a doctor if yours is fluctuating that much. Do you eat like crap or something? How much do you weigh?

For timing of reps, you shouldn't be starting and stopping a timer. I start the watch one time at the beginning of the workout, and let it run.

I don't recommend soaking your hands before a workout. That's going to soften your skin and cause more wear and tear.

I ice after every workout...10 minutes each arm, I submerge everything up to my biceps in an ice bath, but try to keep my finger tips out of the water to prevent frostbite.

For rep timing, I've found it helpful to use a clock with a seconds hand that makes a ticking noise, easy to count the ticks, especially towards the end of the set when you're pumped and distracted and may find it difficult to watch something. I use a stopwatch to time rests.

echo the above statement about weight, that's a wide margin.

pretty strict with between rep rests, i generally dont chalk between each rep, you shouldnt really need too. brush the holds you'll be using that set, that should help.

pre-soaking? you're nuts. ice bath? ahhhhhh.

do a little research when it comes to recovery powders. I used to use them pretty often, but there's alot of sugar going into those things. like a lot, a lot. I've had better success incorporating a protien powder in with another food to achieve carbs+protein. for example Nutribiotic vegan rice protein (1 gram sugar, 12 grams protein, 60 calories/serving) mixed into oatmeal w/ a palmfull of cereal and almond milk. your body will utilize it much more effectivly, you wont pack on unneeded calories and sugar, and it tastes much better.

it's worth doing some of your own homework in this department in my optnion, as everyone's answer will be different based on dietary preference and nutritional needs.

oh, and I'll add, if you're set on the 4:1 carbs:protein gig, lowfat chocolate milk is basically the ideal recovery drink, providing not only this ratio, but a host of other vitamins and minerals you'll benefit frm as well.

After reading your replay, it might be worth tweaking your diet, dont treat your body like a garbage disposal. I guess it sort of depends on how tuned in you are, but i notice marked differences not only performance, but general well-being dependent on the quality of my diet. Try it.

I record my weight but generally it stays consistent from workout to workout within the realm of change I'm worried about. I gradually dropped from 170 to 165 or so over 4 weeks. My added weight went up a much larger percent.

To time myself I have 2 stopwatches going on repeat. For 10on/5 off for example, I start the first one and 5 seconds later I start the next one. They beep appropriately on the right schedule for the rest of the workout. Works well for me since I know the right beep means let go, left means get back on and I can always look at them if I get confused or need to skip a rep for some reason.

Awesome stuff guys!

My current weight is...runs to check scale, 132 lbs, this morning it was 130, and after the workout it had gone up to 135. I can't possibly be gaining almost 5 pounds in water weight can I? My weight normally fluxuates between 126-135 lbs. I tend to eat poorly and inconsistanly but I have a fast metabolism (not scientifically proven). When I do make a concsious effort to diet I can lose 10-15 lbs in a 3-5 day period.

"youre body will utilize it much more effectivly, you wont pack on unneeded calories and sugar, and it tastes much better."
Thanks for the great nutritional advice Adam.

Chris, your stop watch system sounds great any chance you know the particular watch? Mine is just a standard stop watch and doesn't have a beeping function.

I am totally in agreement with making it as easy as possible so you don't have to think about it.

I use 2 timex ironman cheapo watches. One is my daily watch, the other one is my old one with a broken band that I leave tacked up to the hangboard setup.

If you have a smart phone or laptop, it'd be pretty easy to get a program that does custom interval timing.

shuminW wrote:If you have a smart phone or laptop, it'd be pretty easy to get a program that does custom interval timing.

Exactly what I did. I got an app called 'Seconds Pro' for my iPhone and it allows me to create a fully customizable interval set. I have it set up to do 7-second hang intervals followed by 3-second rest intervals for required number of hangs per set (7, 6, 5). The it goes into a 2 minute rest interval after each set and a 3 minute rest interval between grips. Same thing is repeated for each grip automatically.

It takes a while to set up correctly but once it's done it makes the hangboard workout completely thoughtless. The timer even does three short beeps for the last 3 seconds of each interval and one long beep to signify the interval is over so that you can anticipate when to stop/start each hang without staring at the timer the whole time.

they make Seconds Pro for Andriod?

AdamB wrote:they make Seconds Pro for Andriod?

Doesn't look like it. I'm sure you can find something similar though.

For iPhone users, this is it: itunes.apple.com/us/app/sec…

I use this one on my Android phone. This was the best of the timers I looked at.

play.google.com/store/apps/…

Since I don't own a smart phone I decided to look around and found this, online-stopwatch.com/interv… not to shabby

I've also been interested in varying my campus routine at some point. Has anyone dabbled with campusing different holds i.e slopers or pinches? Ive always imagined two of these

atomikclimbingholds.com/pro…

set next to each other vertically would give some impressive results.It's never made much sense to me while we would have to train hypertrophy on ever different hold type but not for campusing.

i just have an old style, round clock with a sweeping second hand. works great. i just put it in front of me, nothing fancy. my rests are generally 5 to 10 seconds and i chalk up each rest (i wear 2 chalk bags in front of me so i can chalk like a gunfighter!).

i record my weight before the workout, just to keep track. my weight fluctuates a bit also for some reason, generally within a 7 pound range over the course of a week or so.

I use a cheap wall clock with a second hand, like Slim. Works miles better than a watch or phone, I generally put it on the floor in front of me, or on a chair. I've used my watch, but if the lighting or angle is bad, it's tough to see the lcd display, plus it's small, and the clock you can hear the ticking.

body weight only fluctuates around a couple of pounds at most (weighing at the same time everyday, first thing in the a.m., just as I'm jumping in the shower) but yes, I do record bodyweight as a data point in my HB workout log.

My rest between reps is pretty strict, but I do vary the rest between sets a little. It may vary as much as 30 sec in a given workout. I also chalk about every other rep, and have a chalk bag strapped to one of the columns supporting my hangboard.

I don't ice, but have been meaning to start for about a month now (I WILL get around to making it part of my routine, but it's hard during a bouldering session where I'm usually training in the gym and don't have ready access to ice or a freezer.

If I want a 4:1, chocolate milk is my go-to, cheap and tasty, available anywhere.

good point about rest between sets. i used to do 2 minutes, but i have upped it to 3 minutes (unless i feel really fresh and i am running short on time - then i might drop it back down to 2 ro 2.5). i have found that the extra minute between sets makes a pretty big difference (for me at least). the down side is that it will add about 18 minutes to your workout (assuming 18 sets).

slim wrote:good point about rest between sets. i used to do 2 minutes, but i have upped it to 3 minutes (unless i feel really fresh and i am running short on time - then i might drop it back down to 2 ro 2.5). i have found that the extra minute between sets makes a pretty big difference (for me at least). the down side is that it will add about 18 minutes to your workout (assuming 18 sets).

I've got the same results, but I have always wondered if by adding another minute to the rests between sets if I am pushing my hangboard Hypertrophy workout to more of a Max Recruitment workout on a hangboard. I thought shorter rests are better for building Hyp. because you don't want your muscles to fully recover.

Wouldn't claim to do a lot of aerobic exercise, just run 2-3 times a week. However, may weight varies within about a 5 pound range from day to day. I assume it's related to hydration status- every quart of water weighs two pounds, after all. Or it could be the margin of error on my scale- would only be about 1.5% change.
Mark

You guys that have the high weight fluctuations...do you weigh at the same time of day, without clothes?

It seems pretty odd that you'd fluctuate that much. If I weigh first thing in the am, then again after dinner, sure it would change by 2-3lb, but doing it at the same time everyday it doesn't move around much from in a two day span (provided I didn't eat an abnormally large dinner or a bunch of salt that boosted water rentention)

i usually weigh myself before my HB workout (usually in the evening, after work), so it is probably not that consistent. my theory is that i sit on my ass at work during the week (and go out to lunch way to much) and then i work it off on the weekend. i'll have to pay more attention and see if the data supports this theory.

i have been meaning to get a little bit of cardio in, but work has been busy so cardio is usually the first thing that gets tossed out the window.

I wake up, eat breakfast (always the same yogurt and hard boiled egg) then weigh myself before showering. Sometime between 5 and 9 AM, depending on my work schedule.
Over time the variations seem to average out, so I haven't worried about it.

AdamB wrote:do a little research when it comes to recovery powders. I used to use them pretty often, but there's alot of sugar going into those things..

Well, sure. That's the entire point of them, to rapidly replish glycogen, during the so-called "replacement window" when insulin sensitivity is high, preferably within 15-60min after finishing the workout. The added protein, the "1" in the 4:1 is hypothesized to further increase the insulin response. So it appears that the protein is more to boost the insulin response which in turn assists in getting the glycogen back into the muscle, rather than a need for the protein itself (of course you will need protein to repair/rebuild/etc but I'm talking specifically about the short window of insulin sensitivity and glycogen replacement...you can get your extra protein later, and too much protein in the recovery drink can hinder, rather than help)

At least that's how I remember it from reading Dr. Burke's book based on his research that initiated the entire "recovery drink" boom. The book is titled "Optimum Muscle Performance and Recovery". Chris Carmichael incorporated this approach with the athletes he trained fairly early (this was Lance Armstrong's coach among others)

AdamB wrote:I've had better success incorporating a protien powder in with another food to achieve carbs+protein. for example Nutribiotic vegan rice protein (1 gram sugar, 12 grams protein, 60 calories/serving) mixed into oatmeal w/ a palmfull of cereal and almond milk. your body will utilize it much more effectivly, you wont pack on unneeded calories and sugar

I have a couple of quibbles with these statements. First, the reason we use drinks, rather than concoctions with whole foods in them is the speed aspect...they digest and get in the bloodstream quicker. Second, what is your basis for the claim in bold above? Third, the amount of calories in a recovery drink doesn't need to be very high to achieve the desired effect, and if you're doing workouts where you actually need one, you've probably just burned off more than you are taking in from the drink. Adding weight from "unneeded calories" seems like a non-issue.