*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

[Nix]

Stretch your calves? Both gastrocnemius & soleus.

Yes, normally.

Shins or back of legs?

During the workout yesterday it was around the back, on the inside, beneath the calf. Today however, I have very sore shins with the odd burning sensation. I had a rest-day today, but had to walk to work and my shins definitely weren't feeling right. I'm going to the gym again tomorrow, but my cardio will be on the rowers as opposed to the treadmill. I think I'm going to rest this one out and stretch more in future. If the problem persists then I guess it's something to do with my shoes.

 

[Makunouchi]

If it is bothering you that much take a while off. I find you know if you really need the time off

Sod that, I've pushed through worse during boxing training. I had crippling shin splints for weeks but utterly refused to let up on my running, sprinting and skipping routine (and training sessions) for even a day, I scared them away in the end It only hurts when doing the reverse fly motion anyway so I don't reckon it will be a problem, back day tomorrow anyway so we shall see.

 

[The IPB]

If you are doing HIIT properly in the swimming pool then you should have drowned the first time you did it.

Tried it before and the risk of being unable to swim through fatigue means you really means you arn't hitting it hard enough. Get running outside or go on an Ergo for some proper HIIT!

I do HIIT sprints also, this is just for of a full body HIIT and I feel it more suits the type of MMA workout I am after.

By the end of it I was completely drained so I think it went well, I could probably push a bit more and attempt to drown but it wouldn't be all that constructive for me!

 

[Skull]

Right! Been having a little bit of trouble sorting out proper exercise given that I currently live in a hill tribe village on a mountain in Thailand, but my DIY gym is just about complete -

1) I've got a fantastic bamboo pullup bar which is set for weighted pullups - I've tested it and it can handle me (78kg) + someone on my back (55kg), though I couldn't actually do a chin with that weight on me! Plus, because the bar is much thicker than usual it's a great grip workout.

2) Can't do without dips, so I've got a set of bamboo parallell bars. Again, strong enough to take weighted dips and thick, so working the forearms again. It can also be used for inverted weighted rows.

3) No legs, no life! How to squat safely was a puzzle for me, but I've solved it with a 200 litre water barrel filled with bags of sand and one of those two wheeled jobbies used for carrying crates of heavy things around, I don't know what they're called. It feels great to lift with it, I go all the way down and it doesn't feel unnatural at all. Plus it's nice and easy to adjust the weight, just take a bag of sand out. The only difficult thing is doing the 20-rep squats! It can also be used for deadlifts, so I've got legs well -covered.

4) The weighted dips are the main method for chest and tricep growth, but everyone likes to bench, even people with bamboo gyms. I definitely don't trust any sort of bench here to hold heavy weight, and no one in this village has even been to a gym before, so spotters are out. I solved the safety issue by building the bench into the ground, so the weight (bags of dirt) go into holes in the ground and I lie flat on the dirt. It works great... it's also less stable than a normal bench with real weights, so it's more of a "stabiliser" workout than dumbells would be.

I've also got some great big water tankard things that hold about 30 litres each, which I'm using for farmers walks. I think I will probably make another bamboo bar to do some military pressing, but for now, I've bought a 7.5kg shot-put and hurling that around for an hour or so is giving my shoulders a great workout.

The best thing is that I've only spent about £45 (the barrel was £10, the two-wheeled thing £20 and the shot put £15)

It's a good setup and I reckon I'll be able to make some equally good gains with consistent training, though if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. My diet here is great too, no processed food in sight, all-natural, lots of calories, lots of protein. Perhaps the only thing you lot won't like is that a lot of the protein is coming from dog meat! :O

 

[p4radox]

Right! Been having a little bit of trouble sorting out proper exercise given that I currently live in a hill tribe village on a mountain in Thailand

Whereabouts? I spent about 4 weeks living with the Karen whilst doing a project last summer. Awesome people.

edit: the blog link in your sig doesn't work

 

[blairw]

I'm adding on 30 - 40 minutes of cardio per day as im on quite a big cut for the next 14 weeks (holiday and all). However I find running for 40 mins straight to be pretty boring, and have decided to mix it up by doing the following:
15 minutes treadmill
15 minutes bike
15 minutes concept 2 rower.

Is there any disadvantage to this at all?

 

[tom_e]

I'm adding on 30 - 40 minutes of cardio per day as im on quite a big cut for the next 14 weeks (holiday and all). However I find running for 40 mins straight to be pretty boring, and have decided to mix it up by doing the following:
15 minutes treadmill
15 minutes bike
15 minutes concept 2 rower.

Is there any disadvantage to this at all?

As long as you dont take massive breaks between each one and can keep your heart rate up I cant see a problem with mixing up to keep you intrested

 

[blairw]

Yeah i would be literaly moving straight onto the next machine and hitting working pace within the first minute on each machine (except the first machine, will be warming up on that)

 

[BennyC]

Have a look into some HIIT. It'll help aid fat loss, improve fitness and is also very quick and not boring!

 

[blairw]

Yep have done, I do it on the rower every so often and it does knacker you completly. However when using the treadmill raising and lowering the speed affects the timings of your sprints. Ill need to look at the settings to see if you can automatically change speed on timed intervals .

 

[BennyC]

I've only ever done HIIT on the rower as you don't need to change anything just start beasting it!

I also used circuits & barbell complexes on my cut and found them to be quite effective. Circuits really are knackering. If you do 30seconds of 4 different exercises and then rest for 30 seconds and repeat 3 more times I guarantee you won't have been that sweaty or out of breath before!

 

[blairw]

I might try introduce some complexes aswell, I have used them a few times and they provide a really good workout. Possibly normal cardio during the week then doing a complex on a saturday.

 

[BennyC]

I did 15-20 minutes of HIIT on the rower. Then 2-3 minutes rest. 2 seven phase barbell complexes and then another couple of minutes rest and then 8 minutes of circuits (skipping, mountain climbers, high knees jogging, jumpingjacks etc). Might me an idea to do steady state during the week and then something like the above at weekends.

 

[Skull]

Whereabouts? I spent about 4 weeks living with the Karen whilst doing a project last summer. Awesome people.

edit: the blog link in your sig doesn't work

What sort of project was it? Sounds pretty cool. I'm living in an Akha village in Chiang rai.

Yeah, this morning google deleted my blog for alleged spam (which it wasn't) I've applied for it to be undeleted. We'll see. If they undelete it I'll make a post about with pictures of the gym and link to it.

 

[p4radox]

What sort of project was it? Sounds pretty cool. I'm living in an Akha village in Chiang rai.

Yeah, this morning google deleted my blog for alleged spam (which it wasn't) I've applied for it to be undeleted. We'll see. If they undelete it I'll make a post about with pictures of the gym and link to it.

A water supply. Lots of digging trenches for pipes, laying concrete etc. Not too far from Khun Yuam if you know it. What sort of stuff are you doing?

 

[blairw]

I did 15-20 minutes of HIIT on the rower. Then 2-3 minutes rest. 2 seven phase barbell complexes and then another couple of minutes rest and then 8 minutes of circuits (skipping, mountain climbers, high knees jogging, jumpingjacks etc). Might me an idea to do steady state during the week and then something like the above at weekends.

Thanks for the advice mate.

At the moment I will be doing the following

Mon: Shoulders
Cardio AM: 40 minutes steady state / or HIIT

Tuesday: Legs
Cardio AM: 40 minutes steady state / or HIIT

Wednesday: Rest Day / Possible Cardio

Thursday: Chest Triceps
Cardio AM: 40 minutes steady state / or HIIT

Friday: Back & Biceps
Cardio AM: 40 minutes stead state / or HIIT

I will also be playing five aside football on sunday, tuesday and thursday. Possibly mondays some weeks. I currently play twice a week.

I think i'd leave out the saturday session at the moment and put it in as I get closer to my goals / fat loss slows down.

Thoughts?

 

[BennyC]

I've only done a proper cut once. I've got a 'final push' thread floating about.

I wanted to be able to train frquently but also allow room for cardio. I used a chest & back, legs, rest, shoulders, legs, rest approach for a while. I performed 40 minutes of hill intervals on the x-trainer on my rest day.

Legs & cardio on the same day will be a bit demanding. Are you performing cardio at a different time to your resistance training?

For the last 3 weeks or so I adopted a push/pull split which meant I could do cardio every other day. It also meant my resistance training didn't need to be as intense or high volume as it was much more frequent.

40 minutes of cardio is a long time. If you get your diet nailed you can work it so that you don't need to spend so long performing cardio to get you into a defecit. HIIT is short, sweet and much more effective at burning fat. I welcome SS every so often though. But 4 sessions of 40 minutes per week would bore me to death! Not to mention the time you use!

You could make it even quicker and do the Tabata Protocol 2-3 times, some complexes & circuits and be in and out within half an hour.

Without realising it I did gradually up the intensity of my cut & strictness of my diet. Jumping in at the deep end might not be the best approach. Changes in the body take time and you might get disheartened when you're slugging out 4-5 hours a week on cardio and not seeing much progress. The body needs to adjust to a lesser calorie intake. It's also very mentally challenging I found eating so much less than you're used to and moving more quite difficult.

 

[blairw]

All very good advice - so thanks for taking the time to respond.

I think, that at this stage I will lower the cardio slightly, until my body is in such a position to keep up.

I will read into HIIT more, I have used circuit training in the past to great effect.

Basically I will be training in the morning before work, my weights routine, followed by whatever cardio I decide to go through with. I think that the time i can save by using HIIT will see me do that more often than Solid State cardio, but its always good to mix it up.

 

[Royality]

Yeah I've been cutting for 3 weeks and it feels like I've been cutting for 3 years. It's all very, very painful.

That said I am low-carbing so the first few weeks are always incredibly tough, I'm starting to feel better though. I have lost more than half a stone though, and that's not all water weight.

4 more weeks of this and I get to reassess and see if I am happy with my bf%. 10-13% is my goal so here's hoping.

 

[Chris1712]

Got extreme DOMs in my lats today, combined with a cold which won't shift and i feel like death. Had one of those super sneezes earlier, you know the type that makes your neck ache, on top of DOMs, OUCH!