Stupid Questions Thread

[dw]

Have any of you tried to add weight to the weight stack of a commercial gym machine?

I want to add about 50 pounds to the back extension machine at the gym I use. I can slip in a few of the 5 pound increments from the pulley machine but not enough.

I'm thinking of wrapping a thin chain around some of the slabs of the weight stack and hanging two rubberized 25 pound plates from it. It will be a while before I can try this...in my mind it makes sense but I have a feeling it won't work.

Are there some small dense weights I can just slip on top of the stack?


ETA...maybe this? https://www.kingofthegym.com/gym-pin-review/

That usually ends up breaking the machine, although I'm not sure how heavy/how many reps you have to do over time before it breaks.

Thanks...does that apply to that device I linked to or more the jury-rigged version I was describing?

[Renascent]

Passing stones through the peehole doesn't sound like much fun at all.

Right. Avoiding this outcome is perhaps the one thing to which my desire for bigger biceps comes second.

I would guess "excessive protein consumption" varies from person to person, especially taking into account individual medical histories and nutritional demands.

But I'm curious as to whether or not pissing out excess calcium could be remedied with a greater magnesium or zinc intake, in which case we could just keep curling away.

[Hardartery]

Passing stones through the peehole doesn't sound like much fun at all.

Right. Avoiding this outcome is perhaps the one thing to which my desire for bigger biceps comes second.

I would guess "excessive protein consumption" varies from person to person, especially taking into account individual medical histories and nutritional demands.

But I'm curious as to whether or not pissing out excess calcium could be remedied with a greater magnesium or zinc intake, in which case we could just keep curling away.

I am checking in from France to comment on this. Straight up, you guys should know that the entire thing is bullshit, to be generous and put it nicely. You couldn't eat enough protein to make a difference, it just isn't possible, and the only idea is 100 percent theoretical with no scientific backing. It's medical "Professionals" pretending they are a step up from bloodletting and leeches while being as ignorant as the old guy at the barber shop telling you how to solve world hunger.
First, you get stones or you don't. Period. I do not, in spite of spending years with parathyroid hyoerplasia and hypercalcemia. My 24 hr urine sample foe calcium was a full gallon jug dropped off at the lab after only 18 hrs because I filled it up. Th thing no one ever fills up. And the calcium level was way off the the stupid end of the chart. My wife gets stones and she usually is not getting enough protein in her diet and does not register a high calcium level on any of her lab work.
All minerals enter your sysrem via the same gut transport, and so they can interfere with the absorption of each other if you ingest them at the same time, and your body has a preference and plays favourites. YMMV as to which one it likes. Whatever you ingest and cannot process via your transport system becomes waste and gets pissed out. That goes for all minerals. So ingesting more just leaves more floating around and possibly interfering with absorbing the calcium. Vitamin D plays a large role in what happens with the calcium after you absorb it, the active form not the D2 or D3 that you take or the D that they measure with standard blood work - that is an inactive form that requires parathyroid hormone to become the active form that you use.
I have more info in more detail, but I'm supposed to be on vacation.

[Philbert]

Being that I have no time/suck at managing my time, what would be the best course of action if I planned to not really lift for a few months but didn't want to completely detrain/turn into a disgusting blob?

Not Detraining:
When I was working crazy hours I found that I could maintain a degree of strength by training once per week. Run KUA with no accessories except maybe some rows, all 4 lifts in one session. Pick one day of the week when you are going to do it, no matter what. You will probably be sore for two days, but your strength probably will not regress unless you are quite advanced. If you can slip a 10 minute air squat/pushup circuit in half way through the week it may significantly decrease the soreness factor.

Not turning into a disgusting blob:
As far as I can tell, this has everything to do with what you eat (and don't eat) while at reduced training volume. I have no useful suggestions, but I have seen it done.

[ChasingCurls69]

Have any of you tried to add weight to the weight stack of a commercial gym machine?

I want to add about 50 pounds to the back extension machine at the gym I use. I can slip in a few of the 5 pound increments from the pulley machine but not enough.

I'm thinking of wrapping a thin chain around some of the slabs of the weight stack and hanging two rubberized 25 pound plates from it. It will be a while before I can try this...in my mind it makes sense but I have a feeling it won't work.

Are there some small dense weights I can just slip on top of the stack?


ETA...maybe this? https://www.kingofthegym.com/gym-pin-review/

That usually ends up breaking the machine, although I'm not sure how heavy/how many reps you have to do over time before it breaks.

Thanks...does that apply to that device I linked to or more the jury-rigged version I was describing?

I think it applies to both because usually it's the cables getting fucked up from the extra load that ends up being the point of failure.

[Philbert]

The anecdotes I have heard were in the range of 400-600 grams of protein per day. And if you are not producing excess uric acid, have normal kidneys, and are not absorbing significant oxalate from your diet then the calcium level in your urine is mostly irrelevant as a stone risk factor.

[Allentown]

Being that I have no time/suck at managing my time, what would be the best course of action if I planned to not really lift for a few months but didn't want to completely detrain/turn into a disgusting blob?

Not Detraining:
When I was working crazy hours I found that I could maintain a degree of strength by training once per week. Run KUA with no accessories except maybe some rows, all 4 lifts in one session. Pick one day of the week when you are going to do it, no matter what. You will probably be sore for two days, but your strength probably will not regress unless you are quite advanced. If you can slip a 10 minute air squat/pushup circuit in half way through the week it may significantly decrease the soreness factor.

Not turning into a disgusting blob:
As far as I can tell, this has everything to do with what you eat (and don't eat) while at reduced training volume. I have no useful suggestions, but I have seen it done.

[Culican]

I have always had big calves, probably because I was a fat kid growing up. Recently for the first time, in the quest for more definition, I started using the seated and standing calf raise machines in the gym.

Every time I do this I wake up in the middle of the night thrashing my legs around with the feeling of an imminent cramp. So far I have been able to bolt out of bed and start walking around and prevent a full blown cramp (although sometimes it felt like I stayed on the edge of a cramp for ~5min.) I've tried taking magnesium citrate before bed but it doesn't seem to help.

Anyone have any ideas?

[broseph]

Being that I have no time/suck at managing my time, what would be the best course of action if I planned to not really lift for a few months but didn't want to completely detrain/turn into a disgusting blob?

https://exodus-strength.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3604

(TLDR at the bottom)

[Renascent]

I have always had big calves, probably because I was a fat kid growing up. Recently for the first time, in the quest for more definition, I started using the seated and standing calf raise machines in the gym.

Every time I do this I wake up in the middle of the night thrashing my legs around with the feeling of an imminent cramp. So far I have been able to bolt out of bed and start walking around and prevent a full blown cramp (although sometimes it felt like I stayed on the edge of a cramp for ~5min.) I've tried taking magnesium citrate before bed but it doesn't seem to help.

Anyone have any ideas?

I was getting this in the hamstrings pretty frequently for a time, after incorporating some knee flexion movements alongside the hip extension shit I was already doing.

Part of me wondered if it was some sort of nerve irritation via muscle inflammation, or if it was simply too much volume too soon.

Hoping it's the latter, but I guess I'll find out more once I can get back to doing two lower body sessions per week.

Magnesium (in bath salt form and capsule form) doesn't seem to do much for me. I've eaten a banana in a pinch, though, and staved off the worst of a cramp after going into a quad stretch too long.

[Renascent]

First, you get stones or you don't. Period.

I dunno, man. I don't see why the variables that would allow or prevent the formation of stones couldn't change over time. I don't profess to know enough about innards to fully understand every variable involved in endocrine anomalies, but if regulatory processes can become more or less efficient due to age, diet, environment, too much or too little of any given thing, and so on, I don't see why kidney stone formation couldn't become a new thing later in one's life.

Hell, I grew a 33rd tooth in my late twenties, seemingly out of nowhere.

I haven't gotten around to looking through some of the articles I've seen in greater detail yet, but I'm definitely curious in both sides of the argument regarding excess protein.

The anecdotes I have heard were in the range of 400-600 grams of protein per day.

Hmm.

I'm definitely not in danger of taking in quite that much. I usually abide by the ol' reliable "gram per bodyweight pound" rule.

[quikky]

I have always had big calves, probably because I was a fat kid growing up. Recently for the first time, in the quest for more definition, I started using the seated and standing calf raise machines in the gym.

Every time I do this I wake up in the middle of the night thrashing my legs around with the feeling of an imminent cramp. So far I have been able to bolt out of bed and start walking around and prevent a full blown cramp (although sometimes it felt like I stayed on the edge of a cramp for ~5min.) I've tried taking magnesium citrate before bed but it doesn't seem to help.

Anyone have any ideas?

How much volume are you doing for calves? Is your training quite fatiguing otherwise?

Most of the time, from my experience, it is an excessive fatigue issue.

[lheugh]

First, you get stones or you don't. Period.

I dunno, man. I don't see why the variables that would allow or prevent the formation of stones couldn't change over time. I don't profess to know enough about innards to fully understand every variable involved in endocrine anomalies, but if regulatory processes can become more or less efficient due to age, diet, environment, too much or too little of any given thing, and so on, I don't see why kidney stone formation couldn't become a new thing later in one's life.

Hell, I grew a 33rd tooth in my late twenties, seemingly out of nowhere.

I haven't gotten around to looking through some of the articles I've seen in greater detail yet, but I'm definitely curious in both sides of the argument regarding excess protein.

The anecdotes I have heard were in the range of 400-600 grams of protein per day.

Hmm.

I'm definitely not in danger of taking in quite that much. I usually abide by the ol' reliable "gram per bodyweight pound" rule.

Barring kidney pathology, I wouldn't worry too much. An 8-week trial involving protein consumption at 3.4g/kg had no adverse effects on renal function. A 4-month trial ranging 2.6-3.3g/kg showed no adverse effects, including renal function. Lastly, a 1-year crossover trial involving 2.5 and 3.3g/kg (6 months t each protein level) showed no harmful effects on any biomarkers, including liver and kidney function. If that's not enough, then Devries et al recently did a systematic review and meta-analysis that included 28 studies and 1358 subjects comparing higher than 1.5g/kg of protein consumption (greater than 20% of total calories) versus less than 5% of total calories and it was concluded that higher protein intakes have a trivial to non-existent effect on kidney function.

[AlanMackey]

https://exodus-strength.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3604

(TLDR at the bottom)

That was fucking fantastic!

[Renascent]

Barring kidney pathology, I wouldn't worry too much. An 8-week trial involving protein consumption at 3.4g/kg had no adverse effects on renal function. A 4-month trial ranging 2.6-3.3g/kg showed no adverse effects, including renal function. Lastly, a 1-year crossover trial involving 2.5 and 3.3g/kg (6 months t each protein level) showed no harmful effects on any biomarkers, including liver and kidney function. If that's not enough, then Devries et al recently did a systematic review and meta-analysis that included 28 studies and 1358 subjects comparing higher than 1.5g/kg of protein consumption (greater than 20% of total calories) versus less than 5% of total calories and it was concluded that higher protein intakes have a trivial to non-existent effect on kidney function.

Welp, another double-lunch day it is, then!

[asdf]

cramps

Most of the time, from my experience, it is an excessive fatigue issue.

I agree. There's probably more recent research, but I found this paper helpful several years ago with I was suffering from calf cramps.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1150229/

In my case, it was cumulative fatigue from Olympic lifting, box jumps, and running -- particularly steep hills.

[DCR]

I have always had big calves, probably because I was a fat kid growing up. Recently for the first time, in the quest for more definition, I started using the seated and standing calf raise machines in the gym.

Every time I do this I wake up in the middle of the night thrashing my legs around with the feeling of an imminent cramp. So far I have been able to bolt out of bed and start walking around and prevent a full blown cramp (although sometimes it felt like I stayed on the edge of a cramp for ~5min.) I've tried taking magnesium citrate before bed but it doesn't seem to help.

Anyone have any ideas?

I’ve had an issue with these most of my life; they’re fucking awful. Shit that’s helped:

- I get them only when sleeping on my back. No idea why that is, but I avoid sleeping that way as much as possible.

- Bananas, for real.

- As soon as you wake up into it, immediately straighten the leg, pull your toes toward you and hold there, and with the other hand masssage the calf as firmly as you can. I usually keep that up for a few minutes, even after the feeling has passed.

[mbasic]

cramps

Most of the time, from my experience, it is an excessive fatigue issue.

I agree. There's probably more recent research, but I found this paper helpful several years ago with I was suffering from calf cramps.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1150229/

In my case, it was cumulative fatigue from Olympic lifting, box jumps, and running -- particularly steep hills.

I submitted a thread on the BBM forums regarding exercise induced muscle cramps .... like most things, they dismissed consuming electrolytes, hydration, salt, etc to fix the problem. ...fell in line with what you guys have decided in that its most likely fatigue.

I think that is bullshit though ... as sometimes there is no substantial accumulated fatigue, likewise, I, or my son (prob a genetic thing), were not detrained either.

I'm not saying fatigue can't cause cramps .... but it doesn't make sense when the athlete is not clearly fatigued:
- either acutely fatigued (ex: 3rd play of 1st quart of a FB game)
- or say accumulated fatigued (was off Tues from practice; Thurs is only a "walk thru"; Fri game)

But I think @Culican is talking about relaxation cramps, or night time cramps ..... but might be the same thing tho.
I tried all manner of things.

In most of the studies I've read, stretching might be the only active intervention that works .... other than then off loading a bunch of fatigue with rest/deloads/etc.

One thing BBM didn't address, or I couldn't find a study on, is acid. I remember reading an article about how you want your body in a more acidic state (contrary to the alkaline water crowd/trend) ..... the slightly more toward acid your body chemistry is, makes it easier for your body to shuttle around minerals, electrolytes, etc from a biochemical point of view. Might be one of the reasons pickle juice works (anecdotally). Try apple cider vinegar before bed, fermented foods, etc.

I would also up the salt

[EggMcMuffin]

Being that I have no time/suck at managing my time, what would be the best course of action if I planned to not really lift for a few months but didn't want to completely detrain/turn into a disgusting blob?

https://exodus-strength.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3604

(TLDR at the bottom)

Hmm, my problem is I far prefer deadlifting, but am severely detrained on squats. Wat do? This could work I guess, but I have detrained a bit since I haven't lifted consistenly since June and I haven't trained seriously since at least January

[AlanMackey]

So two-thirds of normal volume is enough to maintain, but… how about keeping volume the same but reducing intensity?