So I started doing Lying triceps extensions. It's been going well enough, BUT, when I do them, once I get past 5-10 reps or so my elbow kinda stings. It's not too bad, and it's not preventing me from actually doing the exercise, but it hurts enough to make me think I MAY be doing something wrong and inadvertently injuring my elbow. Should I start with a smaller weight, and work back up to my current weight, (about 16 pounds per dumbell if I recall, the smaller ones are just tiny plastic ones, like, 3 pounds each or somethin) or is elbow pain expected?
Which way do your hands point when doing the exercise? The wiki picture of dumbbells shows a neutral grip, which seems right. If you're using a pronated grip or twisting the direction around when doing the exercise, you might be stressing your elbow a bit.
Here is a video of Rippetoe showing the LTE. He recommends an EZ curl bar for the job, because he likes barbells, but dumbbells should work just as well. But listen to what he says about the grip position, that might be your problem.
So I have been drinking 4-5 cups of milk a day, which at 12 grams of sugar puts me over the daily recomended intake of sugar. Now I know that is bad, but Men's fitness says milk helps build muscle (which really only reinforces my habit), so I was wondering if you think that makes up for the increased sugar intake?
The reason milk is recommended for muscle building is because muscle building requires energy. When strength/muscle training there are in general two types of dietary programs you can undertake: Bulking and cutting. When bulking you eat in a large excess of "normal" maintainance and in cutting you eat in a slight deficit. So when bulking you put on a lot of muscle, but invariably also some fat, which you then get rid of later when cutting. The reason it's done this way is because it's close to impossible to gain muscle without flooding your body with energy and proteins.
Milk is recommended for bulking, but not because it's a magical substance. It's recomended because it's cheap, easy and fool-proof. No matter how bad your diet is to begin with, telling you to drink X liters of milk a day is an ensured way of getting you a lot of calories and protein. You could, in theory, just "eat more". But that concept is a lot harder to quantify, and if you don't want to count calories and whatnot you're likely not going to get it right.
There's nothing wrong with going above the recommended sugar level. If you're seriously trying to put on muscle, you should be going above the "recommended" dosage for just about any nutrient. The daily recommended intake of sugar is for the mildly active general person. The moment you decide you want to build muscle, your requirement is going to exceed that of the average mildly active general person.
Of course, this is assuming you're doing enough exercise to warrant the extra energy. Pushups and sit-ups aren't that tough on the body, and you should not try to seriously bulk unless you do serious exercise (like marathoning or weight liftig).
I guess the final take-away TL;DR is that: No, going above the recommendation is not going to screw you over. If it does, it's likely because of the rest of your diet, not the milk. And if it does screw you up it's going to be in that you put on a bit more fat than necessary, not that you spontaneously develop diabetes.
Also does anyone know of any good leg exercies, that don't take too long? IE, not running/walking.
Squats! Squats! Deadlifts! Deadlifts!
That depends on how much you weigh, and how easy it is for you to lift that much. If you don't have weights, your legs are just lifting your torso, arms, and head. The idea is to go low, but not touch the ground, if you want to maximize the work done. I personally use a pair of 5lb (2.25 kg) weights when I do lunges, but it's up to you. Whatever is somewhat uncomfortable to you.
I've always been a heavy, dense core so lunges are rather effective for me. I've got a bit of mass concentrated above the legs. But yes, I should've mentioned that. If you're a toothpick, you're probably not going to be working very hard in these. While if you're overweight, it will probably be hell.
If I was a toothpick I wouldn't be training like a masochist 
But that's why I am training like a masochist.
I used to be a toothpick. Now I aint one no more.
Gone from ~70 kg to ~85 kg in a year because of Rippetoe.
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Topic: I'm Training Like A Masochist (And You're Invited!) (Read 17000 times)