[[[The 2022 Gym Rats Thread]]] ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

[CaptainRAVE]

@DarkShadow looking good! Not too dissimilar to my lifts, deadlift looking strong!

Cheers to those who advised on my eating. I always progress like crazy this time of year and this year has probably topped all. Throwing in eggs, whole milk and chicken thighs has really helped and I’m still keeping lean, so I must have been well under the required calories. How have I been leaving eggs out for so long! Of course there’s now a shortage, but we still get them in work

Fingers crossed this year, that unlike last year, I don’t get a sickness bug, a Covid jab reaction and then not long after Covid itself. I’d love to continue this progress into the new year without losing 5kg bodyweight.

Squats now over 230.
Deadlifts no idea, but adding 2.5kg a week and easily moving 225kg this week (good to be doing these again!)
OHP 100% bodyweight at around 93kg.
Bench a tad over 160kg, 3kg under a pb!
Plus all the other crap I do like one handed rows at 105kg per side, pull ups body weight plus 40kg for reps, 93kg barbell curls and various other nonsense.

All progressing steadily. I’ve also solved the problem of a cheap gym with racks just behind our summer home. £60 for 2 months, 2 minute walk

Enjoying it being cool again too. I’ll happily workout in trousers and a hoodie, trying not to use the heating. About 10C in my gym, but it’s fine if I keep moving.

 

[ShortWarning]

Dupe

 

[ShortWarning]

Lovely lovely lovely @DarkShadow. I can feel the relief on the rerack after the squats

@ShortWarning sneaking little 2.5kg above my deadlift i got you on squats though at the moment
How tall are you?

Your deadlift is a lot cleaner than mine, I reckon you could have pulled more! 5'9". How about yourself?

 

[Syla5]

Your deadlift is a lot cleaner than mine, I reckon you could have pulled more! 5'9". How about yourself?

5'7ish, horrible levers though, long torso, short legs, average arms. Rip for deadlifting!

 

[arc@css]

My grip is the weak link on anything like that, deadlifts/stiff-legged deadlifts, shrugs, generally back exercises.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

My grip is the weak link on anything like that, deadlifts/stiff-legged deadlifts, shrugs, generally back exercises.

That’s what straps are for.

Edit: 1.5kg weight gain in 2 weeks, wasn’t expecting that. Finally breaking the year long plateau. No wonder I feel strong at the moment.

 

[Syla5]

My grip is the weak link on anything like that, deadlifts/stiff-legged deadlifts, shrugs, generally back exercises.

are you just using double over hand grip as well? I use straps for most barbell back exercises where the focus is my back and not my grip, so heavy rows, shrugs, RDL's etc. For deadlifts I use a mixed grip because getting the straps on puts me in a less comfortable position to get tight from.

 

[arc@css]

@Syla5 I perform them with a mixture of palm-facing away or facing-in. With the deadlift, I follow the same method, though on occasion I'll switch to one palm-facing away and the other facing-in (traditional grip, IIRC).

 

[DarkShadow]

@DarkShadow looking good! Not too dissimilar to my lifts, deadlift looking strong!

Cheers to those who advised on my eating. I always progress like crazy this time of year and this year has probably topped all. Throwing in eggs, whole milk and chicken thighs has really helped and I’m still keeping lean, so I must have been well under the required calories. How have I been leaving eggs out for so long! Of course there’s now a shortage, but we still get them in work

Fingers crossed this year, that unlike last year, I don’t get a sickness bug, a Covid jab reaction and then not long after Covid itself. I’d love to continue this progress into the new year without losing 5kg bodyweight.

Squats now over 230.
Deadlifts no idea, but adding 2.5kg a week and easily moving 225kg this week (good to be doing these again!)
OHP 100% bodyweight at around 93kg.
Bench a tad over 160kg, 3kg under a pb!
Plus all the other crap I do like one handed rows at 105kg per side, pull ups body weight plus 40kg for reps, 93kg barbell curls and various other nonsense.

All progressing steadily. I’ve also solved the problem of a cheap gym with racks just behind our summer home. £60 for 2 months, 2 minute walk

Enjoying it being cool again too. I’ll happily workout in trousers and a hoodie, trying not to use the heating. About 10C in my gym, but it’s fine if I keep moving.

Dang! Looking forward to the next PR

 

[DarkShadow]

Felt quite nervous loading 200KG. Since my injury, I've only loaded 200+ 3 times. Overshot my efforts here but another PB for this year. 200KG X5

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Looking good. Watching mine back yesterday I realised I’m sacrificing a tiny bit of depth. I’ll see how the final week of the cycle goes to work out where I need to go with the weight.

What body weight are you at? What’s your bench like? Any competitions planned?

Even with my increased eating my muscle growth isn’t quite keeping up with squat weight, so 1 rep 95% lifts are becoming a tad more nerve racking. It always moves though. I think throwing deads back in has perhaps added another variable, even with a couple of days rest.

 

[DarkShadow]

Looking good. Watching mine back yesterday I realised I’m sacrificing a tiny bit of depth. I’ll see how the final week of the cycle goes to work out where I need to go with the weight.

What body weight are you at? What’s your bench like? Any competitions planned?

Even with my increased eating my muscle growth isn’t quite keeping up with squat weight, so 1 rep 95% lifts are becoming a tad more nerve racking. It always moves though. I think throwing deads back in has perhaps added another variable, even with a couple of days rest.

I'm currently hovering around 78/79, bench I've not been able to progress due to pec strains but I'm hanging around a conservative 125. No comps planned but it's fun to weigh in with my not-so serious progress w/ the current 66kg and 84KG Brit record holders.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I'm currently hovering around 78/79, bench I've not been able to progress due to pec strains but I'm hanging around a conservative 125. No comps planned but it's fun to weigh in with my not-so serious progress w/ the current 66kg and 84KG Brit record holders.

An excellent weight to lift ratio.

I do similar, useful to have a benchmark. I compare myself to my local lifting friends who enter regional/national competitions…although my focus is to gain some mostly healthy mass, hence throwing in some bodybuilding focussed stuff too. It’s definitely working.

Hit 70kg standing OHP for 10 reps today, I always enjoy looking back at weights that I never used to be able to move. That was a tough one.

 

[DarkShadow]

An excellent weight to lift ratio.

I do similar, useful to have a benchmark. I compare myself to my local lifting friends who enter regional/national competitions…although my focus is to gain some mostly healthy mass, hence throwing in some bodybuilding focussed stuff too. It’s definitely working.

Hit 70kg standing OHP for 10 reps today, I always enjoy looking back at weights that I never used to be able to move. That was a tough one.

Damn, that's a strong press!

Decided to wrap up a bit early and test my new max. It went well considering it was very late with no caffeine/hype.

270KG. +20KG PR. Have a fair amount left in the tank but I've only been above 250 once, have to stick my plan. Decided to do another rep after this just to make sure.

 

[Syla5]

Making it look easy! Massive weights for your bodyweight thats for sure! 3.4xBW deadlift right there, and you made it look like a comfy double at least, let alone a rep max!

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Body weight finally going up thanks to my new diet plan.

Oct - 92kg
Nov - 93.1kg
Dec - 95.2kg

No wonder the weights are flying up. Comfortably moving my old bench pr now. I might need to add some more weight to my training cycles.

 

[ShortWarning]

Argh, so I popped/tore something in my knee at BJJ last night. It was loud, everyone stopped to see what it was (sounded like your classic ligament tearing/stretching). It doesn't hurt too much but I can't walk on it without a limp, any lateral movement causes agony and my ROM is at about half. I'd expect this for a while after any injury/niggle but I'm pretty sure I've torn my ACL (although probably not a serious tear).

So annoying as my lifts were progressing nicely.

Does anyone have any experience lifting without surgery? Obviously, I'll give it a week or 2 but the consensus seems to be that squatting and deadlifting should still be okay. I'm guessing that doesn't mean PR's though?

 

[DarkShadow]

Argh, so I popped/tore something in my knee at BJJ last night. It was loud, everyone stopped to see what it was (sounded like your classic ligament tearing/stretching). It doesn't hurt too much but I can't walk on it without a limp, any lateral movement causes agony and my ROM is at about half. I'd expect this for a while after any injury/niggle but I'm pretty sure I've torn my ACL (although probably not a serious tear).

So annoying as my lifts were progressing nicely.

Does anyone have any experience lifting without surgery? Obviously, I'll give it a week or 2 but the consensus seems to be that squatting and deadlifting should still be okay. I'm guessing that doesn't mean PR's though?

Sorry to hear this.

After 4 knee surgeries and rehabbing over 5 years to a 200KG here's my basic advice:

1. Stop any offending activities until you get a diagnosis. In the meantime, train your upper body but don't dramatically increase volume out of frustration.
2. Get straight to A&E - it's the fastest to fastrack this. Referrals that could take close to a year. I waited on the GP and after 6 months of over-compensating, my other knee tore in day-to-day activities.
   1. If your ACL is gone. Most likely will need surgery.
   2. If meniscus is torn, depending on the grade, you may need surgery.
3. Rehab will begin. Take these 6 months to reflect on what really went wrong and work on a game plan.
4. Modify excercises to rebuild strength.
5. Return to excercise.

Ironically, Firas Zahbi dropped a video on this and he's done a whole load on knee injuries in contact sports:

All the best.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Argh, so I popped/tore something in my knee at BJJ last night. It was loud, everyone stopped to see what it was (sounded like your classic ligament tearing/stretching). It doesn't hurt too much but I can't walk on it without a limp, any lateral movement causes agony and my ROM is at about half. I'd expect this for a while after any injury/niggle but I'm pretty sure I've torn my ACL (although probably not a serious tear).

So annoying as my lifts were progressing nicely.

Does anyone have any experience lifting without surgery? Obviously, I'll give it a week or 2 but the consensus seems to be that squatting and deadlifting should still be okay. I'm guessing that doesn't mean PR's though?

Get it checked immediately. At the very least for piece of mind. It’ll be no doubt frustrating, but worth taking every protective measure in the long run. Your lifts can progress again in the future. I had to stop benching for a year and started from scratch, but I’m not far off 170kg, so it can be done!

What were you doing?

 

[ShortWarning]

Sorry to hear this.

After 4 knee surgeries and rehabbing over 5 years to a 200KG here's my basic advice:

1. Stop any offending activities until you get a diagnosis. In the meantime, train your upper body but don't dramatically increase volume out of frustration.
2. Get straight to A&E - it's the fastest to fastrack this. Referrals that could take close to a year. I waited on the GP and after 6 months of over-compensating, my other knee tore in day-to-day activities.
   1. If your ACL is gone. Most likely will need surgery.
   2. If meniscus is torn, depending on the grade, you may need surgery.
3. Rehab will begin. Take these 6 months to reflect on what really went wrong and work on a game plan.
4. Modify excercises to rebuild strength.
5. Return to excercise.

Ironically, Firas Zahbi dropped a video on this and he's done a whole load on knee injuries in contact sports:

All the best.

Thanks for the vids, I'll take a look. I was going to go down the doctor route but there's a minor injuries not too far from me. I'll drop in there. My nearest A&Es are 9+ hour waits.

Get it checked immediately. At the very least for piece of mind. It’ll be no doubt frustrating, but worth taking every protective measure in the long run. Your lifts can progress again in the future. I had to stop benching for a year and started from scratch, but I’m not far off 170kg, so it can be done!

What were you doing?

Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, it was just one of those freak things, no ones fault but my knee ended up twisting while my hips were locked.