Weightlifting for Kiwis - Discussion and support regarding the art of swole

[VeteranOfTheRetardWars]

Anyone here get carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms (hands/wrists going numb) after increasing workout sessions?

I had to quit going 3/4 times a week due to numb arms preventing me from sleeping. Now I only do 1 day a week (back workout only) which seems to help.

Only thing I can think that would be causing it is just somehow related to is the fact that I have slightly rolled forward shoulders and or cannot do a pull up. Any help or speculation would be appreciated though. Thanks.

Dude, try the rice bucket. It has helped my hands and forearms a lot lately. It's classic physical therapy because it is literally zero impact to open, close, and twist your hands into rice but it really strengthens all of the muscles if you do different movements and fills the area with nutrient-dense blood and metabolites to help recovery.
I just had a grappling tournament where I kind of injured some fingers, and it really helped out. I've been doing a five minute workout every morning for a few months now and my arms just feel better, like they got an upgrade or some shit.
As for your shoulders, add bodyweight rows into your routine and keep chasing pullups. As a former calisthenics bro, I personally don't think lat-pulldown machines are the best for training pullups, I think pullups are the best way of training pullups. Do negative pullups in a very controlled fashion as well as the rows.
Building up your back and core in that way helps even out a lot of muscles, as well as basic upperbody stretches.

 

[dick brain]

Everything is helped by lifting.

This isn't a joke.

 

[Sad Chad]

Anyone here get carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms (hands/wrists going numb) after increasing workout sessions?

I had to quit going 3/4 times a week due to numb arms preventing me from sleeping. Now I only do 1 day a week (back workout only) which seems to help.

Only thing I can think that would be causing it is just somehow related to is the fact that I have slightly rolled forward shoulders and or cannot do a pull up. Any help or speculation would be appreciated though. Thanks.

Yes, often. It's gotten to the point where when I wake up the morning I have to pump my hands just to bring blood back in them. It's a minor annoyance, and I refuse to stop lifting because of it. I'm glad to hear it's not just me though.

 

[Axiom.]

I don't what to add to this, so I will just say, ever since I went back to the gym I felt more alive with my life, and now understand the importance of exercise.

My regime is 5 * 5-7 on Compound Exercises, 3 * 8-10 on more isolated but still compound exercises, and 2 *10-12 on completely isolated exercises. I go 3 times a week at the moment, but will soon upgrade it 4. I'm really focused on upper body than lower body, but now am developing a balance of both.

 

[Lords Greatsword]

Anyone here get carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms (hands/wrists going numb) after increasing workout sessions?

I had to quit going 3/4 times a week due to numb arms preventing me from sleeping. Now I only do 1 day a week (back workout only) which seems to help.

Only thing I can think that would be causing it is just somehow related to is the fact that I have slightly rolled forward shoulders and or cannot do a pull up. Any help or speculation would be appreciated though. Thanks.

Might've been said before, but if you have spare rubber bands lying around you can take however many you want for the level of resistance and extend your fingers with them

 

[Troon Meet Noose]

I just want to start off by getting some basic arm strength before moving onto working the torso and other muscles, the bare minimum in my bedroom to see an improvement in that one aspect to have the psychological effect of "okay that's working there's an improvement you should keep going" before working on the rest. I also don't want to become some sort of deadlifting body building hunk,

Just do Starting Strength. There should be an incremental improvement every workout. You will need some better home equipment or access to a proper gym

Don't worry about your arms. You're not going to be able to grow them like you want if that's all you're focused on.

I'm not sure exactly what a deadlifting body building hunk is but I'm pretty sure no one's every accidentally become one.

 

[Slav Power]

Just do Starting Strength. There should be an incremental improvement every workout. You will need some better home equipment or access to a proper gym

Don't worry about your arms. You're not going to be able to grow them like you want if that's all you're focused on.

I'm not sure exactly what a deadlifting body building hunk is but I'm pretty sure no one's every accidentally become one.

Maybe I wasn't clear enough, maybe I wasn't honest enough, maybe I was making a mistake of asking for any kind of advice here.

I am in a shit mental state. For all the free advice online about how to exercise at home I could never push myself to do any of it, every fitness advice like you recommended just wants you to dedciate yourself to some massive super exercise plan. This type of shit is demotivating me from exercising, I'm too mentally weak to look at it and commit to it like they want you to so I wanted to start from anything. My bedroom is tiny and I can't comfortably do a pushup or a pullup on the floor, with the next best bet being my bed with a soft sping mattress. I bought a hunk of cheap Chinese steel for the sake of the mental effect of it being present in my bedroom to mock me that I wasted money on it, so that I force myself to lift it until I get tired to at the very least see that my bicep got bigger, that I can lift it easier, in hopes it'll push me to a cascade effect where I'll willingly move onto more exercises where the weight loss and muscle gain will only be a side effect of getting my mind on the right track and sorting my shit out. But I don't want to be lambasted with lifestyle advice or workout plans, just the bare minimum of pointers from my current standpoint of what types of simple muscle movements can I do at home in my tiny bedroom to see and feel even a modicum of a difference to motivate me further. I know I'm repeating myself again butnI hope I made myself clear. And if you want to suggest me seeking mental help or meds then don't bother, I want to fix this on my own, because if I can't do it myself then no one can and for now basic weight lifting seems to be the thing to go for.

 

[Lords Greatsword]

My bedroom is tiny and I can't comfortably do a pushup or a pullup on the floor, with the next best bet being my bed with a soft sping mattress.

Best bet is to just find a spot outside right next to wherever your place is to do calisthenics movements.
Routine always starts with an impetus. Without movement, you will remain in the same spot.

 

[dick brain]

shit

If you put as much effort into lifting as you put into not lifting you'd be fucking jacked bud.

 

[BunchofMunch]

But I don't want to be lambasted with lifestyle advice or workout plans, just the bare minimum of pointers from my current standpoint of what types of simple muscle movements can I do at home in my tiny bedroom to see and feel even a modicum of a difference to motivate me further.

Ok, so you're doing dumbbell curls with 4.4kg for each arm now? How does that feel? Do your arms get tired at all? Because to be honest, that doesn't sound like enough weight for a grown man without any (physical) illnesses or handicaps even if you haven't been working out at all before. The movement itself is probably fine though, it doesn't have to be complicated. Try doing some standing dumbbell overhead press and see if you can tire your shoulders a bit (and growing shoulders will do much more for your appearance than just biceps, in my opinion). You don't need to workout until the movement fails, but you do need to feel a bit tired in the muscles worked each set.
Skip the warm-up and cool-down/stretching stuff for now, it isn't necessary for what you're doing and it will only add time and effort that you don't seem to possess at the moment.

Spoiler: What you don't want to hear

Leave your bedroom and take a walk, that will do so much more for your overall strength, health and motivation than any amount of chinese steel. Put your dumbbell in a backpack for some added intensity, or just to be able to stand around in a park doing curls for the fun of it. Just get outside.

 

[hog cranking frog]

Anyone here get carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms (hands/wrists going numb) after increasing workout sessions?

I had to quit going 3/4 times a week due to numb arms preventing me from sleeping. Now I only do 1 day a week (back workout only) which seems to help.

Only thing I can think that would be causing it is just somehow related to is the fact that I have slightly rolled forward shoulders and or cannot do a pull up. Any help or speculation would be appreciated though. Thanks.

I've had my carpal tunnel symptoms helped by lifting. Pretty bad over the winter when I wasn't lifting, got back into it, I can play video games again for more than 30 mins.

 

[Slav Power]

Ok, so you're doing dumbbell curls with 4.4kg for each arm now?

Singular, dumbbell. So it's 10 reps on one hand, swap, and 10 reps on the other. Not simultaneous. I still have two 1.25kg weights I could add for a total of ~6.9kg but it's still a single dumbbell. Yes I have no idea what I'm doing if that wasn't obvious by now, I just went into a sports store and bought whatever.

 

[BunchofMunch]

Singular, dumbbell. So it's 10 reps on one hand, swap, and 10 reps on the other. Not simultaneous. I still have two 1.25kg weights I could add for a total of ~6.9kg but it's still a single dumbbell. Yes I have no idea what I'm doing if that wasn't obvious by now, I just went into a sports store and bought whatever.

That's okay, doing one arm at the time or both at once doesn't make a big difference here, it just takes a bit more time to do one and then switch. Everyone is a beginner when they start out, and it is great that you want to better yourself.

 

[Jarry Seinfelt]

Anyone here get carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms (hands/wrists going numb) after increasing workout sessions?

I had to quit going 3/4 times a week due to numb arms preventing me from sleeping. Now I only do 1 day a week (back workout only) which seems to help.

Only thing I can think that would be causing it is just somehow related to is the fact that I have slightly rolled forward shoulders and or cannot do a pull up. Any help or speculation would be appreciated though. Thanks.

Computer gaming was way worse for my wrists than lifting ever was, tbh. Like I was a TF2 obsessed autist in my teens and early twenties to the extent that it caused my wrists to start bothering me. If your wrists start bothering you while you're benching, pressing, curling or whatever, that's just your body telling you to fix your form. Then again, that's easy to say when you don't have any serious/permanent injuries.

 

[JoseRaulChupacabra]

Leave your bedroom and take a walk, that will do so much more for your overall strength, health and motivation than any amount of chinese steel. Put your dumbbell in a backpack for some added intensity, or just to be able to stand around in a park doing curls for the fun of it. Just get outside.

I second this. Walk and do it for long distances when you can, then see if you can switch to light run.

The problem for men with ultra light weights is that any amount of semi-serious effort would see you outgrow them rather quickly.

 

[overweight]

I weigh 120lbs at 5’3” so I can’t be “fat” yet I feel like I look kind of wide and not lean. Is this skinny fat? Would it be helped by lifting?

if youre not asian youre just at the edge of normie weight
at 5 foot 3 id just go for it and dedicate most of your life to weightlifting
im a tall dude and im not gonna pretend my height doesnt give me social benefits
i once met a short dude with a VERY short gf and when our friend group had each a couple of beers the chicks literally said to the tiny girl they feel bad for her for having a short bf while the dude was present
this shocked me so much i actually stopped making fun of short guys
go wide dude
heres a whitepill
when my dad went to prison one of his friends was a short dude with bigger biceps than schwarznegger
he was there for punching a guy so hard one of his eyes flew out after he tried to make fun of him for being short

 

[Billy Hargrove]

if youre not asian youre just at the edge of normie weight
at 5 foot 3 id just go for it and dedicate most of your life to weightlifting
im a tall dude and im not gonna pretend my height doesnt give me social benefits
i once met a short dude with a VERY short gf and when our friend group had each a couple of beers the chicks literally said to the tiny girl they feel bad for her for having a short bf while the dude was present
this shocked me so much i actually stopped making fun of short guys
go wide dude
heres a whitepill
when my dad went to prison one of his friends was a short dude with bigger biceps than schwarznegger
he was there for punching a guy so hard one of his eyes flew out after he tried to make fun of him for being short

oh, luckily I am a woman and not a manlet.

Am going to see a trainer next week and hopefully get some help on leaning out.

 

[overweight]

oh, luckily I am a woman and not a manlet.

Am going to see a trainer next week and hopefully get some help on leaning out.

make sure to look up self defense training where 90% is just kicking somebody in the balls
dont abuse it tho, maybe ranjid really had feelings for you

 

[Diver Down]

Does anyone have an idiot proof timeline of the effects of fasting? I can't count calories for shit and love eating too much, so I'd rather eat at or slightly above maintenance and just fast a set amount of days per interval (e.g. 2 weeks). I'm thinking something like 11 days eating and lifting normally and 3 days of fasting.
Or is this just a really retarded idea?

All that shit

Self-flagellation only makes you hate yourself and in turn make you do even less of what you want to do. Stop that shit. Willpower & motivation are red herrings for faggots. Only habits carry you in the long run. Gains are too slow to intrinsically get you from workout to workout. Willpower will do jack shit when you've had a bad day but have to crank out another set of leg presses. It never gets easier. You only get better at dealing with the discomfort and boredom. Do you think I enjoy every, fuck, even most of the workouts I do? Fuck no. That cascading motivation you're looking for simply does not exist.

My honest suggestion is to do ONE pushup every day. That's it. Just a single one and you don't get to do more. Do it every day at the same time. Obviously one single pushup isn't the goal per se, but it's so fucking easy to do that you've got no excuse to skip. Your brain can't bitch out. The main idea is to get yourself to make it a habit to do one pushup every day. Eventually you'll have the daily part down and you can expand your real workout from there. I honestly think this approach would serve you more than "I'll do an exercise and the progress will push me to do more later"
Don't bother with supplements (only creatine is proven to work btw, everything else is marketing trash), buying any more equipment (that you'll outgrow way too fast anyway) or any serious workout plan (as a noob anything done consistently works. Just don't hop from exercise to exercise so you can measure progress)

But I don't want to be lambasted with lifestyle advice

Tough shit, that's what you're getting.

Read Atomic Habits. I will shill that book until my dying breath. Its even on audiobooksbay.

 

[dick brain]

Does anyone have an idiot proof timeline of the effects of fasting? I can't count calories for shit and love eating too much, so I'd rather eat at or slightly above maintenance and just fast a set amount of days per interval (e.g. 2 weeks). I'm thinking something like 11 days eating and lifting normally and 3 days of fasting.
Or is this just a really retarded idea?

A YouTube channel called What I've Learned just recently put out a good video on it, I highly recommend watching it in full but the tldw is
1) your body burns off its glucose stores. You will feel like shit while this happens. The more glucose you have, the longer it will take, and the longer you'll feel like shit, so you want to eat low carb for your last meal or two. The worst thing you can do is binge on carbs.
2) your body runs out of glucose and switches into ketosis, i.e. burning fat. You stop feeling like shit and actually stop feeling hungry, provided you're supplementing vitamins and electrolytes properly. If you sit still in a cell like David Blaine you'll also lose muscle, but as long as you keep exercising muscle loss is minimal to negligible. In general you feel pretty good in my experience.
3) you break your fast for whatever reason and refeed. There is actually an anabolic effect here, so be sure to refeed with plenty of protein and calories. Hit your macros. Unless you're doing keto, you'll switch back into glucose mode, and the cycle starts over.

Be sure to supplement electrolytes and a multivitamin, otherwise it's pretty straightforward.

I was doing a cycle of 96 hours fasting, 72 hours refeeding earlier this summer but I only did it for a couple weeks before my dad died and I decided eating too much is a healthier coping mechanism than drinking too much, so I didn't get much useful data out of it, but I'm planning on starting again soon. Will post findings if they're worth talking about.

One thing I did notice is that burning off your glucose stores ASAP with cardio reduces the time it takes to burn off your glucose stores, because duh. So basically, start your fast with a steak and a hard run, and end your fast with a steak and a hard lift session.