Although I've gotten substantially stronger after weeks of training with dumbbells, resistance bands, kettlebells, bodyweight, and heavy clubs, there are some things that remain very much out of reach. Like doing hammer curls and lateral raises with my 20-kilo dumbbells. I can't lift these things past 20 or 30 degrees. It's embarrassing. When I was in college, doing 90-pound biceps curls was easy, and I used to have a pair of 35-pound dumbbells in my dorm room. One friend once commented with awe about how I could handle those dumbbells "like toys." Despite that, I've never looked muscular, which partially explains why I'm not surrounded by a harem of houris. But 35-pound dumbbells? Like toys? Ha ha, not anymore, Poison Girls! Not for a long while. But maybe I'll get there again.
I think I might be able to lift 90 pounds (like a sack of sand) off the ground now—might—but I wouldn't be able to curl that weight repeatedly. I use the 20-kilo bells for uneven suitcase carries, a variant of the farmer's carry in which I hold a dumbbell with only one arm and march in place, knees going higher than my navel. This forces the other side of my core (by core, I mostly mean my torso in this case) to tense up, keep me balanced, and keep my spine aligned. I do this exercise as an alternative to side planks (part of the McGill Big 3), which I can't do thanks to my frozen shoulder. Hold the heavy bell with one arm; march; switch arms; march. Right now, it's just 40 seconds of marching per arm, but that'll improve over time.
On the brighter side, you may remember seeing the video where I dramatized my progress with lateral raises while using the 10-kilo dumbbells. The video showed me doing two reps per arm, which at the time was about my limit. I'm now up to five reps with each arm before I switch back to using my 5-kilo dumbbells to do my usual 3 × 12 sets/reps. No visible improvement in my muscle mass; I doubt I'll see anything for a whole year, if I live that long. But maybe, a year from now, I'll be lifting heavier weights for many more sets and reps.
And the addition of muscle mass ought to kickstart my genetically lazy metabolism—probably the biggest factor in why I remain fat (aside from laziness and lack of self-discipline). When you've got more muscle, you're in less danger of strains, falling injuries, etc. You also heal faster and enjoy a better overall quality of life. As for metabolism, more muscle means more energy-burning as your metabolism increases. As you gain muscle mass, there's a snowball effect as your body's engine finds it can rev harder. And aside from the exercises you do, there's NEAT to factor in—non-exercise activity thermogenesis, a metabolic reaction to doing everyday chores, light walking, and other things that you might not count as serious exercise.
So while I can't curl or lateral-raise a 20-kilo dumbbell yet, let's check back in a year and see how things are going. Gotta stay positive.
Is there an advantage to trying to lift heavier weights than just doing more reps with lighter weights? I've read that trying to lift heavier weights can cause you to limit your range of movement, which makes the exercise less effective. I'm no expert, but I've always done more reps with lighter weights to reduce the chance of injury, especially as I get older.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'll weigh in on this too. In the gym now and can safely say I've never seen anyone attempt a curl with anything over 17kgs*. Like Charles says, try 10 to 12 reps at 13kgs or so with perfect form. Or go to failure with.
ReplyDelete*...though in hypertrophic terms 80% of the clientele are sorrowfully superannuated.
Gents,
ReplyDeleteI think some of this is just a matter of perspective. Even though I've gotten so much weaker since my stroke in 2021, I still don't consider 20 kg to be a heavy weight, at least to curl. There are parents who vigorously sling around their squirmy, 20-kilo 6-year-olds with little to no problem. Lateral raises with 20 kg... now, that's admittedly a different story because I don't think I've ever tried that before, not even when I was younger and naturally stronger. But now that I've begun experimenting with 10-kilo lateral raises, I'm curious to see whether I can eventually get up to the 20-kilo range. And trust me: I'm nowhere near that yet (it'll take years), and I don't think you'll ever have to worry about a hypertrophic-looking Kevin; my genes apparently don't work that way. I will never be a Adonis.
To be clear, I'm going for weights that seem most appropriate for each muscle group. Most of the time, my hammer curls are done with 10-kilo weights or with resistance bands that don't offer more than 5 kg of force at their maximum stretch. My lateral raises are mostly with my 5-kg dumbbells, not the 10-kilo ones, and every couple of weeks, I increase the number of reps per set (I was just at 12 reps with those exercises, but I'm starting 13 reps this week; you can see my schedule here; I'm starting Week 6 today). Reps-per-set will only increase over time since I can't keep buying new weights.
Whenever my frozen shoulder stops bothering me, I'd like to get into pull-ups again (I once got up to 7 pull-ups when I lived in Switzerland), but right now, even a simple hang is too painful. Being able to curl 10 kg—or even 20 kg—isn't nearly enough to help me do pull-ups, especially given my size. (I also have to develop my lats and other back muscles.) If I can find workarounds that accommodate my frozen shoulder while helping me train for pull-ups, I will. I do light versions of lat exercises on Tuesdays, the day devoted to resistance-band work. Just baby steps for now.
If you look at my workout schedule, you'll see it's not as unreasonable as all that. I'm not trying to become a musclebound gorilla—not when there's so much basic stuff I need to do first. From my perspective, health-wise, I'm starting at negative 100 and am trying to fight my way up to zero. Once I'm at zero, I can start thinking more ambitiously about which way I want to go with my training. The leap from 10-kilo dumbbells to 20-kilo dumbbells is gonna take years, but ever since I discovered that my 5-kilo-dumbbell training could lead to my lateral-raising the 10-kilo dumbbells, I've been optimistic. Don't worry: I have no plans to overstrain myself. I'm probably going to have to buy intermediate weights to work my way up to the 20-kilo weights: 12 kg, 15 kg, etc. But that's not an issue right now, and it won't be an issue for a long, long time. Right now, the 20-kilo dumbbells are primarily for suitcase carries. They help strengthen my core. Every little bit helps.
To sum up: my approach is a moderate fusion of low-weight-high-rep (for muscle tone) and high-weight-low-rep (for muscle strength). Because of my limited equipment, I'll be significantly increasing reps-per-set long before I really, earnestly start increasing weight.
One last thing: I have this fantasy of hooking up a thick rope to one wall of my apartment a little below waist height, attaching the rope to the opposite wall, then pulling myself across the length of my floor with my arms, doing laps like a swimmer in a swimming pool. I'd need a bigger apartment, of course, not to mention the means to attach a thick rope to my walls, but it's a dream.