I Gots Chains!

[Joe Wordsworth]

So, I ran out of weights on my weight bench years ago--I just never got around to buying more because the bar doesn't hold that much and I didn't feel like paying a lot of moeny to replace the whole setup. I spent the last year travelling a lot, and some hotels have a workout room and some don't, so I've been in a slump because I /like/ weights and have always been image-conscious.

Like the abs losing a /little/ definition just makes me shudder--always has.

So, I've been in a more permanant place lately, but the weight room at my apartment complex is inadequate. I'm 6'6" and move a /lot/ of iron, but they're those starter machines that don't go up very high.

So, i talked to an old boxing buddy about what he does--I didn't want to buy more weights for my bench, because its not the right kind of end-resistance I want (which usually means I have to use a machine), but the equipment I have on hand (and I'm NOT buying a machine myself, my apartment couldn't house it) is too light and kinda flimsy.

So, he recommends chains and sandbagging (which, I don't want the mess involved with sand).

So, I bought chains.

I recommend chains.

Chains are a great workout.

 

[SeaCat]

So, I ran out of weights on my weight bench years ago--I just never got around to buying more because the bar doesn't hold that much and I didn't feel like paying a lot of moeny to replace the whole setup. I spent the last year travelling a lot, and some hotels have a workout room and some don't, so I've been in a slump because I /like/ weights and have always been image-conscious.

Like the abs losing a /little/ definition just makes me shudder--always has.

So, I've been in a more permanant place lately, but the weight room at my apartment complex is inadequate. I'm 6'6" and move a /lot/ of iron, but they're those starter machines that don't go up very high.

So, i talked to an old boxing buddy about what he does--I didn't want to buy more weights for my bench, because its not the right kind of end-resistance I want (which usually means I have to use a machine), but the equipment I have on hand (and I'm NOT buying a machine myself, my apartment couldn't house it) is too light and kinda flimsy.

So, he recommends chains and sandbagging (which, I don't want the mess involved with sand).

So, I bought chains.

I recommend chains.

Chains are a great workout.

Buckets, buckets filled with sand or cement. Oh and a thick bar made of steel.

Been using these for years. They are cheap and easy to make, plus they give you a better workout.

Cat

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Buckets, buckets filled with sand or cement. Oh and a thick bar made of steel.

Been using these for years. They are cheap and easy to make, plus they give you a better workout.

Cat

See, my problem is the function of resistance. I thought about going with hand-weights, but you're lifting 100% of the weight at the moment of lift--and all the way through the lift. It's not good for applying variable resistance.

The chains are working great. At the first part of the lift, I'm only lifting a little bit of the overall weight (maybe twenty pounds of chain), as I'm picking up, I'm pulling more chain off the ground so at around halfway through I'm pulling up fifty or sixty pounds. At the height of the pull I'm pulling up the rest.

Crazy levels effective.

I'm ripping those end-arc muscles more than the initial pull muscles, wihch is a whole different feeling.

 

[rise_again]

thats actually interesting. ive never thought of that.

i may hafta go buy some chains.

 

[R. Richard]

Joe:
I am a little confused here. Are you lifting the chains via a bar with the chains hooked to the end, or what? Where do you find chain that weighs maybe 100 pounds for a reasonable length? TIA!

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Joe:
I am a little confused here. Are you lifting the chains via a bar with the chains hooked to the end, or what? Where do you find chain that weighs maybe 100 pounds for a reasonable length? TIA!

I was curling.

Take a chain, triple it up, and fasten it to the end of a short-bar; and then another one on the other end.

Use at least 3/8".

 

[S-Des]

See, my problem is the function of resistance. I thought about going with hand-weights, but you're lifting 100% of the weight at the moment of lift--and all the way through the lift. It's not good for applying variable resistance.

The chains are working great. At the first part of the lift, I'm only lifting a little bit of the overall weight (maybe twenty pounds of chain), as I'm picking up, I'm pulling more chain off the ground so at around halfway through I'm pulling up fifty or sixty pounds. At the height of the pull I'm pulling up the rest.

Crazy levels effective.

I'm ripping those end-arc muscles more than the initial pull muscles, wihch is a whole different feeling.

I just go with a gym. I'm doing regular lifting at the moment, but the machines that do progressive resistance are what all the trainers use and recommend. At the moment, I'm still enjoying lifting free weights, but I think I've about topped out so it's time to do something to build all my muscles (now that I've got myself back in shape....er....mostly ). I've heard of chains, but never met anyone who tried them. At some point we have to get over the old mindset of lifting. The new advancements have you lifting less, but building muscle mass more evenly and safely. That's especially good for old people like me whose better days are behind us.

 

[SeaCat]

See, my problem is the function of resistance. I thought about going with hand-weights, but you're lifting 100% of the weight at the moment of lift--and all the way through the lift. It's not good for applying variable resistance.

The chains are working great. At the first part of the lift, I'm only lifting a little bit of the overall weight (maybe twenty pounds of chain), as I'm picking up, I'm pulling more chain off the ground so at around halfway through I'm pulling up fifty or sixty pounds. At the height of the pull I'm pulling up the rest.

Crazy levels effective.

I'm ripping those end-arc muscles more than the initial pull muscles, wihch is a whole different feeling.

Joe,

The chains work well. I've used them in the past but or the set up I have now the buckets just seem to work for me.

I use resistance/slow lifting.

Two buckets filled with fine sand for curling, four for benching. Six for squats.

For another style of workout I use an impact board. A 4x4 driven into the ground until it is six feet tall and then wrapped with rope.

Cat

 

[R. Richard]

JFor another style of workout I use an impact board. A 4x4 driven into the ground until it is six feet tall and then wrapped with rope.

Cat

It sounds like you are creating what Karate guys call a makiwara. The makiwara is a good tool but care must be taken to see that you don't damage yourself by hitting too hard until you have built up to heavy impact.

 

[SeaCat]

It sounds like you are creating what Karate guys call a makiwara. The makiwara is a good tool but care must be taken to see that you don't damage yourself by hitting too hard until you have built up to heavy impact.

Yep, same concept.

I started with wearing armor and doing light strikes. I slowly moved to full strikes without armor.

The Romans used an item much like this for training their fighters. It was a tree trunk and the fighters wore leather wrappings around their hands. After a year of this you did not want to get hit by them.

Cat

 

[glynndah]

And just think of all the good those chains did ol' Jacob Marley. (Sorry, I couldn't resist. Back to your regularly scheduled thread already in progress.)

 

[Liar]

I was expecting more kink out of a thread title like that. But fair enough, if we talk workout...

I used to have a back problem. Slight overweight and couch potatoness (or actually office chair potatoness, all I did @ work was sit and all I did outside of work was sleep) had left me with a weak back and it started to mess with my spine.

I tried every machine and contraption possible in the gym, but the best thing I found to work the bottom to mid back was a thick, bent plywood board. Ten minutes of stretching that out with my back every morning, and ten minutes of running stairs, saved me from bona fide cripple-status. Same thing there, incremental resistance. No machine or other routine I found had anything close to that and that made all the difference.

 

[TriggerHippie]

Running saves me, every so often. As fast and as hard as I can. Runner's high and music and videos and movies and maybe, playing in my head. It's a wonderful escape that makes drudgery seem like a gift, eh? Not so chain-ish, tho. But I’m more about the journey than the destination, because, in truth, reality is a bit outside of my reach. I like my world though, it’s a pretty spiffy place to be, all in all.

 

[CharleyH]

Chains are a great workout.

Chains are ... GREAT in a way.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Is anyone else warm? *fanning self*

This whole thread is making me hot!

 

[English Lady]

Is anyone else warm? *fanning self*

This whole thread is making me hot!

Hussy

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Hussy

uh huh...

The testosterone level alone... whew!

 

[English Lady]

uh huh...

The testosterone level alone... whew!

Down Girl!


*exactly the words you'd want to hear, probably!*

 

[CharleyH]

Hussy

I am pretty sure you meant SLUT, EL

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I am pretty sure you meant SLUT, EL

I dunno, EL, what were you going for?



hus·sy–noun, plural -sies. 1. a brazen or immoral woman.
2. a mischievous, impudent, or ill-behaved girl.


slut –noun 1. a dirty, slovenly woman.
2. an immoral or dissolute woman; prostitute.

 

[CharleyH]

I dunno, EL, what were you going for?



hus·sy–noun, plural -sies. 1. a brazen or immoral woman.
2. a mischievous, impudent, or ill-behaved girl.


slut –noun 1. a dirty, slovenly woman.
2. an immoral or dissolute woman; prostitute.

We shall see.

 

[English Lady]

I dunno, EL, what were you going for?



hus·sy–noun, plural -sies. 1. a brazen or immoral woman.
2. a mischievous, impudent, or ill-behaved girl.


slut –noun 1. a dirty, slovenly woman.
2. an immoral or dissolute woman; prostitute.

In his instiance I'm gonna stick with hussy

 

[CharleyH]

In his instiance I'm gonna stick with hussy

you are so SUB!

 

[English Lady]

you are so SUB!

Oh sush, just 'cos you're a bossy boots!

 

[CharleyH]

Oh sush, just 'cos you're a bossy boots!

LOL - love you girly girl!

Night night, EL.