Think of it like this. The deeper you dive into the ocean, the more pressure there is on you due to the mass and weight of the water that surrounds you. Likewise, the more mass that surrounds your blood vessels, the more pressure there is to compress or smash down on those vessels, which means that your heart has to work harder to push the blood through those compressed vessels, which creates higher blood pressure. So when you lose weight, you are stripping away the mass that surrounds your blood vessels and lowering the external pressure on them, just like that pressure release you would feel when go from a deep dive back up to the surface.
Also, "More body fat leads to higher blood volume, which in turn makes your heart work harder to pump all the extra liquid." https://health.usnews.com/health-ca.../2016-10-19/how-obesity-can-affect-your-heart
you can take a dumbell in your right hand put your right elbow on inside of your right knee ...start concentration curling. like what 25lbs??? it's like a math project right but, still you load up an "O bar" with some 45's on each side...and letting it rip your not there.
a whole diff world swinging the "O'bar" the physique gets 'hardened' for want of better term. thats when they say, "hey, you been lifting?"
And now for an update on the update. Since my last post, I continued with this leg workout for a time, but started getting annoyed with my grip giving out too soon on the dumbbells. The last time I did them in this manner, a few weeks ago, I did about 10-11 reps until my grip gave out, immediately followed by four 20-second-rep unweighted squats, immediately followed by 4-5 dumbbell squats, immediately followed by another 4 unweighted squats, immediately followed by another 3-4 dumbbell squats and then finally 4 more unweighted, slower squats. Never locking legs at the top, and holding for a couple of seconds at the bottom, maintaining continuous tension. Here's what I found. The 20-second-rep unweighted squats seemed tougher on my legs than the ~8-second-rep dumbbell (2x65lbs) squats. So, for a few workouts, I did a full set of 20-second-rep bodyweight squats, rested about 10-15 seconds and then did a set of 8-10 pistol squats at "regular" speed for each leg with a couple of 15lb dumbbells, with almost no rest between legs. I rested for at least a minute and then did the whole thing again, but with fewer reps in each instance, obviously. It seemed more satisfying than having my grip give out too soon on heavier dumbbells. However, I just wasn't sure if 20-second-reps were the way to go. And then I came across this article last weekend: https://www.advancedhumanperformance.com/blog/a-better-alternative-to-pistol-squats-skater-squats I was put off that the author was so critical of pistol squats, but some of his rationale made sense and gave me some pause. I then came across this link: https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a19524102/pistol-squat-to-skater-squat/ And so, on Monday I tried the alternating pistol/skater squat with two 15-pound dumbbells. (I prefer holding the dumbbells at my sides and then moving them forward at the bottom of the movement as a counterbalance rather than the "goblet" approach in the 2 videos.) Maintaining continuous tension throughout, I was barely able to do 12 reps (6 of each) before reaching failure. And that was at about 5 or 6 seconds per rep. I went as deep as possible for the skater, with the knee of my non-working leg almost touching the ground near the heel of my working leg, and holding for a couple of seconds. The non-working leg never touches the ground. What I found is that the skater squats targeted the legs better than the pistols! Quads, hams and glutes. On Thursday, I did only skater squats with the dumbbells and it felt right. I did a set of 12 (to failure), rested for a couple of seconds and then did a few more reps to failure. Rested for something over a minute and then did the other leg in the same way. Rested somewhere between 1 and 2 minutes and repeated the process. Done. Admittedly, it was not as fancy as the pistol squats (and I'm all about the fancy!), but it felt harder on my legs. In comparing the two, when doing weighted pistols, they really took the stuffing out of me, but I realized in the direct comparison that pistols were harder on my "core" than the skaters, whereas the skaters were almost all about the leg. And so, I decided to focus on legs when doing...legs. This will be my new upper leg routine.
In the men's health video, that's the lowest I've ever seen a male go on a pistol squat, and the fact he did that holding a kettle bell is pretty impressive. Usually women are a lot better than men at those, but that guy proves otherwise. I will try the skater squat next week on leg day. Thanks for the idea!
Hey, I did full range pistols where my butt touched the back of my calf (complete ATG) while holding two 35-pound dumbbells. And until I stopped doing them exclusively, I did them for 17 to 19 reps. But, admittedly, they were "breathing" squats, where, towards the latter half of the set I would take about 3 breaths or so at the top of the movement (with legs locked) before descending into the next rep. So it was not with continuous tension, which is something that I am focusing on now. P.S. It's easier to do a pistol squat with at least a bit of weight in front of you than without, because it acts as a counterbalance and keeps you from falling backward.
Good to hear. Please let me know what you think. If you're inclined to go the "goblet" route as shown in the 2 videos, at least give the two dumbbells at the sides a try. I think you might find they will give you a better sense of balance, and you will naturally move your arms forward towards the bottom of the movement for counterbalance.