OT: My Gym

orangeblobman

orangeblobman

Rotation player
I posted this here because it can get some hot burn in the early days, I know I have inconvenienced the mods a little, but I hope not too much, so that they may merge it with the fitness thread later. :peace:

This is my gym:
iqwl0k.jpg


This is me overhead pressing the sand bag. Note that this is a strict overhead press, my legs do not move, it's all upper body. The trick in overhead pressing is to squeeze your ass as hard as possible:
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Now, you can do a lot with a sandbag, the above video is just one example. What are some variations? To make it more difficult, I can maybe clean it before every overhead rep, instead of just one clean and 5 overhead presses. This will build the explosive strength but also develop the most useful kinetic chain for sports, from the feet to the top of the lift, this is a strong functional consideration. Think about when you grab a rebound and you need to go back up strong with some fools on your back, you get that And1 if you're sandbagging.

Generally, anything you can do with a barbell, you can do with a sandbag, plus some! They're the most versatile training tool in the world. They say the best things are free and this is as close to free as possible.

They're also adjustable. You see me here with 85, maybe 90 pounds, next month, I hope to upload a video of me doing 100 or 110 lbs, maybe I'll put more sand in, or maybe I'll put some weight plates in there with the sand. You can do anything.

This is training for the average Joe, so that you can gain some functional strength and live a better life, though I'm sure even serious athletes can benefit greatly from sandbag training.

Remember, STRENGTH IS MANDATORY, TRAINING IS NOT OPTIONAL.
 
All that heavy iron (and cat liter) must'v overflowed into your bloodstream eventually.....




And caused a total 180 on Carmelo Anthony, Dolan, etcetc :smokin:

edit -- sandbags are awesome, and you never find them in gyms; nice get-up!
 
the thing with that is it gets boring. Me personally i love doing 4-5 different workouts with different machines, barbells, or dumbbells. Not saying it is a bad thing, you can get a hell of a workout with a duffel bag and some kitty litter, its cheaper and more convenient then going to the gym. Keep workin man.:thumbsup:
 
There is some truth to this where, if you will train for strength, your outlook gradually changes and becomes more positive and loving toward the World.

I think if everyone trained for strength, we would have world peace, until maybe all the strong people wanted to fight each other.

I've used barbells exclusively for the last year, I got my start on Starting Strength last year, built my power rack which I think I shared here in the fitness thread, but now I have to take the rack apart (the woman wants the living room back) so I will use the sandbags over the winter until I find a new home for the rack.

I think sandbags are fun as hell because you can do so many things with them, anything with them, though I'm sure eventually I will miss my barbells. It's good to change it up a little with the things you lift. To be honest, I'm a little tired of loading the bar and handling the weights, so this is probably the best thing for me, to change the pace.

The sandbag will make me even better at barbells when I come back because it will hit all the secret muscles.

The next step is to integrate some circuits maybe once a week so that I will have beast-balls endurance for Winter Rec League.

Also what's cool about the sandbag is that you can take it to the park or the mountain if you want to work in some different scenery, it's also a traveling gym. You can run with the ****, ****, man.
 
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Another thing about the bag is that it's awesome for grip strength because it's so awkward to handle. You see me at the end of the fourth repetition, I am adjusting my grip. Really that was the weak point on this lift. I can lift more weight over my head but the grip on the bag is what gives out first.
 
We'll let this one get some burn, OBM....

Site's a bit dead as we count down the last month of no Knicks...

When it picks up again, I'll put this in the Hangout Forum.

In the meantime, don't break your back lifting your sac.
 
Hahahaha, thanks man, and no way!

This brings us to the reason why I think sandbags are an advanced tool, after you have some comfort with barbells.

Barbell lifting allows you to lift a symmetrically loaded object and to focus on your form, on your mechanics.

But once you have mastered the mechanics of the big lifts with the barbell (deadlift, squat, press), then it is safe to move all other objects, regardless of how awkward or cumbersome they may be.

I actually commented to my father-in-law this past weekend that, because of the things I learned lifting barbells, I am now able to approach everyday objects and lift them safely.

I really have to again recommend Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength as THE BIBLE on lifting form and mechanics.

And yea, season can't come soon enough, I haven't been this amped about a Knicks season since they first hired MDA. I just wanna see this product on the hardwoods already.
 
Granted, I see no reason why a beginner trainee can't learn proper lifting mechanics starting out with a sandbag, it's just that barbells, with their symmetry, create a much more conducive environment for the development of this fundamental understanding.
 
orange blob man strikes again

leave it to OBM to start a thread that has nothing to do with the Knicks,
but a self-absorbed blobness fitness factor. SMH.

obm_bag.jpg
 
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orangeblobman said:
Hahahaha, thanks man, and no way!

This brings us to the reason why I think sandbags are an advanced tool, after you have some comfort with barbells.

Barbell lifting allows you to lift a symmetrically loaded object and to focus on your form, on your mechanics.

But once you have mastered the mechanics of the big lifts with the barbell (deadlift, squat, press), then it is safe to move all other objects, regardless of how awkward or cumbersome they may be.

I actually commented to my father-in-law this past weekend that, because of the things I learned lifting barbells, I am now able to approach everyday objects and lift them safely.

I really have to again recommend Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength as THE BIBLE on lifting form and mechanics.

And yea, season can't come soon enough, I haven't been this amped about a Knicks season since they first hired MDA. I just wanna see this product on the hardwoods already.
Click to expand...

what.png
 
I like the work out, but form is not pretty. Don't sacrifice your technique/form.

Bad advice to give to people. Barbells, Kettlebells, Sandbags are all different pieces of equipment and exercise tools. They have different grips, levers, and angles of pull and the level of center of gravity are different for each. They are so many factors to consider the difference between. You can do similar exercises, but the physiological differences are massively different.

Strength isn't the only thing you should train for, you don't want to be a walking hard on. Plus strength is so vague, what do you mean...maximal strength or muscular endurance? Both have their importance.

Improve your flexibility, balance, breathing, stamina, agility, and speed. Those fitness components have as much importance as strength.

Mods, can you please move this thread to the offtopic forum?
 
Improve your flexibility, balance, breathing, stamina, agility, and speed. Those fitness components have as much importance as strength.
Click to expand...
Sandbags are a great tool to hit all those components. It's all in how you use it. For endurance you will maybe use a lighter weight and do a series of exercises without stopping, so you will form a circuit. For raw strength, you will load even more weight and maybe do only 1 to 5 repetitions. It depends what you want to hit.

While barbells, sandbags, dumbells are all different and require some mechanical adjustment, the fundamentals of all lifting are pretty much the same. The thing about the sandbag, the greatest advantage, is that its an awkward object, so naturally you have to adapt your lift to the object, and this is what blasts you out of your comfort zone. We need to be able to pick all sorts of things up in real-life, so this translates well.

Nothing I said in any post here is bad advice.

Strength is relative. Everyone should try to increase their strength. To say that is not to say that things like endurance are thrown to the side of the highway.

I think a majority of people walking around today can benefit from strength training. People are weak. You always want to be gaining strength because, as Rippetoe tells us, "strong people are just more useful."

Also, the form on the press is very good, in my estimation. If there is something specific you think I can improve, please let me know what you see. My back is straight on the lift from the ground and I lock out elbows at the top. My head moves under the weight at the top position, as is the proper form for an overhead press. The press starts from the chest, as it should, and I do not use any legs, making it strictly an upper-body lift.

***
To elaborate on strength being relative,

As long as you're gaining strength, that's what is important.

My 85 pound overhead press won't win me any StrongMan competitions, but I'll tell you that I couldn't imagine doing that with the same sandbag just a very short time ago.

And next year I'll look back and say "wow, that 85 was heavy to me but now it is a warm-up weight"

And that's how it goes.

As long as you're getting stronger, you're doing it right, it doesn't really matter what the poundages are.

It's about YOU, about each person gaining strength and health.
 
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To elaborate on strength being relative,

As long as you're gaining strength, that's what is important.

My 85 pound overhead press won't win me any StrongMan competitions, but I'll tell you that I couldn't imagine doing that with the same sandbag just a very short time ago.

And next year I'll look back and say "wow, that 85 was heavy to me but now it is a warm-up weight"

And that's how it goes.

As long as you're getting stronger, you're doing it right, it doesn't really matter what the poundages are.

It's about YOU, about each person gaining strength and health.
 
Sandbag aren't the best tool to "hit" all those components. 100% False. Do more research, and experiment with other tools before you go crazy on a forum about a topic you're amateur in. Please stop bragging so much about what you do, it's become trollish.

For endurance, it still won't be efficient because elite endurance training exceeds 2-4 hours of training. Olympic athletes train 2-3 times a day, and even experienced exercisers go in for 2-3 hours a day. You will be doing more endurance related exercises, and a sandbag slows you down. It's a gain in strength, not speed, flexibility, agility, or anything in relation to those components. You can practice your breathing but then once again pilates and yoga would isolate more muscles and is a smarter work out.

There are caveman workouts that don't require much of the CNS. That's why call dumbells DUMB-BELLS, it makes your muscles stupid. The movements aren't challenging or complex, there isn't much growth. Who wants big and stupid muscles? Think about this. This is what separates athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

Maybe do 1-5 repetitions??? Of what? Of your 100% Max? 80% Max? Why 1-5 reps? I don't know where you get your information from. Your body is in **** condition, you shouldn't be giving anyone advice just because you're learning these amateur movements. You actually need a logical program and you need to understand the person's attributes. Not all programs fit everyone.

Some mechanical adjustment? It's actually a lot of mechanical adjustment especially for someone at your level. You obviously ignore form, posture, concentric and eccentric movements. Have you ever practice breathing exercises?

OBM, you may go ahead and ELABORATE the fundamentals of lifting...give the forum a lesson and break it down for us.

How many people in their everyday lives pick up an 80-100lb sandbag? Everyday fitness components include stress management and relaxation methods, core stability, posture, energy output, BREATHING...especially in New York City; the city is fast paced and it requires a lot of energy to battle the stress in the city. There are other exercise methods that would be more beneficial to the average person than just lifting a sandbag.

Strength is important.
But isn't the only thing.
Stop giving bad advice and isolating strength as the most important component, they all serve their purpose. You won't go anywhere with that kind of thinking except in a isolation state.

People are weak, and you're supposedly strong? I know about 8 guys my weight who would make your strength look like on the novice level.

People are MEANT to be WEAK. We're not bears, gorillas, bulls, or even ants. Those animals are built for strength for survival.

Guess what fitness component the human anatomy favors?

FLEXIBILITY.

Humans are monkeys, all our joints are made for movements at a certain range. The ball and socket joint is a great example.

Guess how many average people train on their flexibility? Very few.

Why?
Because the gym and fitness world is infested with these *******s who think strength is the ultimate factor in fitness. They bulk up, gain a lot of belly fat in the waist area, have an unapportioned strength ratio between the upper extremity and lower extremity where the upper body is stronger than the lower, and the worse thing is how stiff and tight their bodies are with unhealthy posture. These guys who obsess with strength add to the overweight population in this country. It's not a good look and that trend will die out soon when more people acquire more information on fitness and the benefits of training all fitness components. Trust me, your kind will be extinct soon, so you better start practicing Power Yoga or something that can improve on the components you ignore completely.


orangeblobman said:
Sandbags are a great tool to hit all those components. It's all in how you use it. For endurance you will maybe use a lighter weight and do a series of exercises without stopping, so you will form a circuit. For raw strength, you will load even more weight and maybe do only 1 to 5 repetitions. It depends what you want to hit.

While barbells, sandbags, dumbells are all different and require some mechanical adjustment, the fundamentals of all lifting are pretty much the same. The thing about the sandbag, the greatest advantage, is that its an awkward object, so naturally you have to adapt your lift to the object, and this is what blasts you out of your comfort zone. We need to be able to pick all sorts of things up in real-life, so this translates well.

Nothing I said in any post here is bad advice.

Strength is relative. Everyone should try to increase their strength. To say that is not to say that things like endurance are thrown to the side of the highway.

I think a majority of people walking around today can benefit from strength training. People are weak. You always want to be gaining strength because, as Rippetoe tells us, "strong people are just more useful."

Also, the form on the press is very good, in my estimation. If there is something specific you think I can improve, please let me know what you see. My back is straight on the lift from the ground and I lock out elbows at the top. My head moves under the weight at the top position, as is the proper form for an overhead press. The press starts from the chest, as it should, and I do not use any legs, making it strictly an upper-body lift.

***
To elaborate on strength being relative,

As long as you're gaining strength, that's what is important.

My 85 pound overhead press won't win me any StrongMan competitions, but I'll tell you that I couldn't imagine doing that with the same sandbag just a very short time ago.

And next year I'll look back and say "wow, that 85 was heavy to me but now it is a warm-up weight"

And that's how it goes.

As long as you're getting stronger, you're doing it right, it doesn't really matter what the poundages are.

It's about YOU, about each person gaining strength and health.
Click to expand...
 
this has turned into an interesting discussion, i say we leave it in NYK forum
for now, as loco ochos suggests, and move it to hangout after pre-season starts.
we need more and more threads to keep us enertained! OBM rocks!
 
metrocard said:
Sandbag aren't the best tool to "hit" all those components. 100% False. Do more research, and experiment with other tools before you go crazy on a forum about a topic you're amateur in. Please stop bragging so much about what you do, it's become trollish.

For endurance, it still won't be efficient because elite endurance training exceeds 2-4 hours of training. Olympic athletes train 2-3 times a day, and even experienced exercisers go in for 2-3 hours a day. You will be doing more endurance related exercises, and a sandbag slows you down. It's a gain in strength, not speed, flexibility, agility, or anything in relation to those components. You can practice your breathing but then once again pilates and yoga would isolate more muscles and is a smarter work out.

There are caveman workouts that don't require much of the CNS. That's why call dumbells DUMB-BELLS, it makes your muscles stupid. The movements aren't challenging or complex, there isn't much growth. Who wants big and stupid muscles? Think about this. This is what separates athletes and fitness enthusiasts.

Maybe do 1-5 repetitions??? Of what? Of your 100% Max? 80% Max? Why 1-5 reps? I don't know where you get your information from. Your body is in **** condition, you shouldn't be giving anyone advice just because you're learning these amateur movements. You actually need a logical program and you need to understand the person's attributes. Not all programs fit everyone.

Some mechanical adjustment? It's actually a lot of mechanical adjustment especially for someone at your level. You obviously ignore form, posture, concentric and eccentric movements. Have you ever practice breathing exercises?

OBM, you may go ahead and ELABORATE the fundamentals of lifting...give the forum a lesson and break it down for us.

How many people in their everyday lives pick up an 80-100lb sandbag? Everyday fitness components include stress management and relaxation methods, core stability, posture, energy output, BREATHING...especially in New York City; the city is fast paced and it requires a lot of energy to battle the stress in the city. There are other exercise methods that would be more beneficial to the average person than just lifting a sandbag.

Strength is important.
But isn't the only thing.
Stop giving bad advice and isolating strength as the most important component, they all serve their purpose. You won't go anywhere with that kind of thinking except in a isolation state.

People are weak, and you're supposedly strong? I know about 8 guys my weight who would make your strength look like on the novice level.

People are MEANT to be WEAK. We're not bears, gorillas, bulls, or even ants. Those animals are built for strength for survival.

Guess what fitness component the human anatomy favors?

FLEXIBILITY.

Humans are monkeys, all our joints are made for movements at a certain range. The ball and socket joint is a great example.

Guess how many average people train on their flexibility? Very few.

Why?
Because the gym and fitness world is infested with these *******s who think strength is the ultimate factor in fitness. They bulk up, gain a lot of belly fat in the waist area, have an unapportioned strength ratio between the upper extremity and lower extremity where the upper body is stronger than the lower, and the worse thing is how stiff and tight their bodies are with unhealthy posture. These guys who obsess with strength add to the overweight population in this country. It's not a good look and that trend will die out soon when more people acquire more information on fitness and the benefits of training all fitness components. Trust me, your kind will be extinct soon, so you better start practicing Power Yoga or something that can improve on the components you ignore completely.
Click to expand...

I've noticed as well that a lot of the people that I discuss weight training with focus on the upperbody wayyy too much. Their size and strength in the upperbody makes them look foolish in comparison with their chicken legs. these guys may be benching 250+ but can't even squat that amount. Even if you are just working on being a body builder / power lifter competitor you need to incorporate a good healthy balance in your routines.

Every+day+is+Upper+Body+day_fed154_3941021.jpeg


Strength training is important to fitness, athletics and functionality. It's also recommended for fat loss and can assist perhaps even more so then cardio training for that purpose. However the best fitness plans are balanced between cardio, flexibility, range of motion, and strength training along with sport specific movements and drills for athletes.

I'm not an expert on the topic of fitness just a weekend warrior with a gym membership. I've been lifting since august and taken it very seriously since January but also incorporated running, swimming, cycling, yoga and plyometrics along with the strength and basketball training. My success with this program has been real, I've dropped over 50 lbs and a number of body fat % points along with increasing my strength by ~300%.

Even after a year solid of training, reading, researching, putting in work at the gym, track and court I realize I'm still a total n00b in the area of fitness. Guys like metro have made a living out of fitness, athletics and body aesthetics. I think most people would be well served to listen to what metro has to say, especially concerning the "functional" strength increases. Sure lifting heavy things may give you the "look" you want (if you want to be a hyuge dude with teh biceps and teh pecs) but a balance needs to be achieved to lead a healthy lifestyle.

In the end it's really about a persons specific goals and needs. If you're the kind of guy that needs to lift awkward heavy **** on a regular basis (maybe a construction laborer?) then perhaps sandbag lifting is the best option for you. But for the average person there are better ways to achieve a healthy body and fitness level that is more functional.

Just as a note I've listened to metro regarding a cardio program he gave me and it was the difference from running a mile in 10 minutes to running a mile in 7 minutes. Listen to this dude!
 
Woah, I feel like **** got real here.

In all honesty, fitness and strength are very simple.

If you know 8 people that can press 85 sandabag, then I know 20 that can do it.

That's why strength is relative.

This thread was meant to inspire.

Workouts are hard work, but the topic of strength and fitness is easy.

And honestly, you can't call my form out and then not tell me what's wrong with my form. That's just not how it's done.

And in all honesty, people are not meant to be weak. It's only in modern times that we became weak. For 99% of human existence, everyone was strong.

Strength is the human's NATURAL state.
 
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