*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

Freefaller said:
Post details! :D
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Up 20KG :D see powerlifting thread. Although my old PB was a deep squat and this was to parralell.

I've got some photo's of the chart read outs. Unfortunatley the hamstring sensor was being temprimental and giving minimal readouts. He's found that sometimes peoples hamstring recruitment has been greater than their quad!

On my 170KG attempt quad recruitment maxed out and went off the chart at over 1000hertz (hertz I think it is). I'll post the pics up later this afternoon. Was quite kool walking around with a laptop and watching the readout jump every step I took.

I have a 'low insertion' on my quad apparently which is why it's quite pronounced over my knee. I now have a bald patch on my Hamstring, Vastus Medialis, and knee cap where I had to shave it for the sensors.:rolleyes:

Edit:

I would have preferred to get a reading from the glute as opposed to the hamstring but it's his dissertation and I don't think he fancied sticking a sensor onto my ass.

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I'm not entirely sure what means what in the graphs but you can see each lift. I think it went something like 110KG, 130KG, 160KG, 170KG. I gave the 160 a bit more explosive movement on the concentric which shows on the chart. The 4th set & PB rep I told him not to spot me as I usually pause/stall for a while, he then didn't tell me when I was parralell so there was a slight pause and not quite such an explosive effort which you can just about see.

As you can see the hamstring readout (red line) was more or less nil due to a dodgey sensor.
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Next week is going to be 3 sets of 10 reps at 50-60% with super slow 8-10 second negatives. I'll get him to send me the comparison chart so people can see. I'll also try and get the title of his dissertation too so this actually makes sense!

One thing he mentioned was that although the bar on the smith only weighs 7.5KG you have the resistance from the bearings and the runners to take into account. A quick bit of overhead press with the olympic bar and then smith proved the resistance to be very similar. This would add another 12.5KG's to the lift however for now 170KG is fine for me!
 
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I'm after a bit of advice on improving my routine. Here's what I'm currently doing, adapted from the sticky:

Monday:
Dead Lifts
Bent Over Rows
Pull ups
BB Curl
DB hammer curl

Wednesday:
Squat
Calf Raises
Crunches, Leg Raises
DB Side Bends

Friday:
Bench Press
Incline DB Press
Flies
Lateral DB raise
Skull Crushers
Shrugs
Military Press


The problem I'm having is that Friday is too heavy. One of my aims at the moment is chest improvement, and to that end I'm trying to do 3 sets of flies and then 3 sets of decline flies. Unfortunately my triceps are giving out before I can properly tax the pectorals. I also can't really do a decent number of military press reps following all the presses, again due to my triceps being too fatigued.

I'm aware that the tris and chest are a pretty central group, and you can't really separate out the two, but is there a better way of splitting my routine to get more from my chest?
 
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Yeah if you go to parallel or below you involve a huge amount of hamstring. Which is what you're supposed to do on a squat, it's not just a quad exercise. I find that hamstring activation is very strong, but surprisingly my quad activation is less powerful. Working on it though! :D
 
IMO you dont need so many exercises. On monday I would take out the hammer curls, BOR's and pullups hit them anyway. Wednesday seems ok, and Friday id remove flies, skullcrushers and shrugs, and replace with dips. Sometimes more volume isnt the answer, and instead its the exercises you do, adding dips will help build good tricep strength, so after a while you will be able to bench more = bigger chest.

Hows your technique too? arching your back and pulling your shoulders together, as well as lowering the bar further down your torso will bring your chest into it more.

Your pecs are stronger than you triceps, so your not likely to feel it working anyway. Thats not to say your pecs arent being worked though, just not as much as your triceps.
 
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Advice i was given when i had asimiliar situation was to take the shoulder exercises to their own work out day altogether as its a big groups of three muscles

So say

Back/Bi's
Chest/Tri's/Abs
Shoulders/Legs

Mine looks pretty much like this atm excpet i dont do any arm work...well except dips on a back day
 
First day on the 'Pull Split' today. It involved:

Deadlifts
Pull Ups
Hi-low & Decline Flyes
B.O.R's
Lateral Raises
Shrugs
Facepulls
Chin Ups
2 Bicep Isolation exercises.

Went well. Finding some working weights but on the whole quite happy with it. The push split is somewhat more demanding!
 
Interesting split. After AGVT I'm going to go back to a push/pull split 4x a week I reckon. Or 3x a week, and then a full body/composition session.
 
Hey guys. Thanks again for your nutrition advices. :) Went out shopping yesterday and bought lots of meat, eggs, fruit & veg, nuts etc.

Is there any way of making cottage cheese taste better? Do you normally eat it with something else? :D
 
KizZ said:
Is there any way of making cottage cheese taste better? Do you normally eat it with something else? :D
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Cottage cheese tastes great but you can buy some with things like pineapple chunks added. Grinding a bit of pepper into it might also work or alternatively you can always eat it with something else - I used to put it in sandwiches with a variety of fresh vegetables.
 
KizZ said:
Hey guys. Thanks again for your nutrition advices. :) Went out shopping yesterday and bought lots of meat, eggs, fruit & veg, nuts etc.

Is there any way of making cottage cheese taste better? Do you normally eat it with something else? :D
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I add some brown sauce to mine :D Seems to do the trick! Finding the right mixture is the hard part...
 
Freefaller said:
Interesting split. After AGVT I'm going to go back to a push/pull split 4x a week I reckon. Or 3x a week, and then a full body/composition session.
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Yeah. I kept flyes and raises off of the push split as I wasn't sure if they were more pull exercises. Plus this way chest and shoulders get a high frequency stimulation.

Push invloves:
Flat Bench
Squats
Military Press
Incline DB Press
Leg Extensions
Alternating Overhead DB Press
GCBP
Dips
& 1 other tricep isolation if I have it in me.

Quite a tough one as anterior delts get blasted!
 
KizZ said:
Is there any way of making cottage cheese taste better? Do you normally eat it with something else? :D
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I have cottage cheese before bed and I find it unbearable on it's own. I stick a teaspoon of honey in with a few sultanas - does the trick nicely ;)
 
Morrisons have a buy 1 get 2 free on princes tinned salmon. Around £2.50 something I think. Thought I'd give people a heads up. They also still have John West Tuna on offer @ £2 for 4 cans.

Not quite such good nutrition but full of chocolatey goodness they also have easter eggs on offer for £1 each :p and two 400gram tubs of Nutella for £2.50.
 
Aye, if it's something small like a supplement that tastes a bit rank, or oats that make a shake taste a bit funny then you grin and bear it. But something everynight before bed I don't think I'd be able to force it down everynight.

I do usually tend to find if I eat something enough it'll begin to taste bareable.
 
deus3x said:
I hate it so end up taking a spoon full then forcing it down with water.
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This is what I do when eating tinned tuna, I absolutely loathe the taste, it's such a pity it's so good for you. Fresh tuna is fine however, I'm not sure what they do to it when canning it that makes it taste so bad.

Edit: I saw this and thought you guys might like it:

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It's real.

(If the .gif is a problem, feel free to remove it FF)
 
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