*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

if you can do pushups for example, you should be benching at least twice, even if you just started.

Make sure you got the right technique.
 
well if a person can do pushups at a bodyweight of 21 stone, he is shifting a lot more than 30kg. thus he should be able to bench press a lot more than that.
 
Had my 'Core Stability' & Kettlebell classes this weekend and just got back.

Am absolutley shattered. Core stability was good, not massively exciting but useful none the less.

Kettlebells were awesome. Brilliant workout and excellent peices of kit. Great for some conditioning, improving fitness, HIIT, ciruits and most regular exercises (even improving on some of them).

Takes a while to learn the correct form & technique but is generally quite straight foward and it's just building co-ordination & correct levels of power. As generating too much means the kettlebell ends up slamming into your forearm ever so ungracefully! Mine are quite possibly 'ruined', deffinatley some bruised bone! Too powerful for my own good eh? Though that was 8 hours of throwing them around!

Good fun and almost a total body workout, great for shoulder stability too.

Can't wait to go to bed :p
 
BennyC said:
2000 calories a day with sessions of 20 minutes HIIT & 10 minutes Ciruits 3 times a week. Weights every other day (push pull split)around the HIIT and then every 6th day have a rest day and carb re-load.

That's what I did and it worked.
Click to expand...

I'm going to do this. Just to clarify as I understand it 'pull' days involve back, biceps, abs and abs. 'Push' days involve chest, quads, triceps and calves.

So:

Mon: Pull
Tues : Push
Weds : HIIT
Thurs : Pull
Fri : Push
Sat: Rest
Sun : HIIT

Or is that too much? I'm 21 and consider myself pretty fit so I should be able to handle it.

I don't have access to a gym so for the time being HIIT is going to be replaced by a 2.5 mile run (very uneven terrain, hills all the way) which I'll aim to do in 13.5-14.5 minutes. I also don't have access to a bench or anything like that so it's dumbbells all the way. Finally, would there be any harm in doing a very slow paced easy 2.5 mile run in the mornings (before breakfast) of some weights days?

Thanks
 
Last edited:
But plank isn't really any good for building real strength or size, surely? Theres no movement to it, does hypertrophy even get induced? The only thing I can think it's good for is doing more plank for longer, lol.
 
You think sit ups build big abs? Non, non mon ami. Big compound movements which utilise core movements builds muscle, 100s of sit up does lead to a little strength but not significant amounts.
 
ahh the old classic

The holy trinity of the beach body bicep boy, the hip assisted bicep curl, the elbows out 1/2 rom bench press and of course the 100 sit ups. :D

Im not a fan of the david lloyd/fitness first type core training stuff. Swiss balls should **** off back to switzerland imo, we bounced around on space hoppers all the time when i was a kid and they never gave me a six pack.

If you want a strong 'core' stick 1xBW across your front delts and put your butt on your ankles or even better stick it on your back and draw tuts from the health and safety bridage by doing GMs.. everything else is just guff to fill the pages of mens health imo

ESN/UKM/BB.com style rant over :)
 
scott212 said:
I'm going to do this. Just to clarify as I understand it 'pull' days involve back, biceps, abs and abs. 'Push' days involve chest, quads, triceps and calves.

So:

Mon: Pull
Tues : Push
Weds : HIIT
Thurs : Pull
Fri : Push
Sat: Rest
Sun : HIIT

Or is that too much? I'm 21 and consider myself pretty fit so I should be able to handle it.

I don't have access to a gym so for the time being HIIT is going to be replaced by a 2.5 mile run (very uneven terrain, hills all the way) which I'll aim to do in 13.5-14.5 minutes. I also don't have access to a bench or anything like that so it's dumbbells all the way. Finally, would there be any harm in doing a very slow paced easy 2.5 mile run in the mornings (before breakfast) of some weights days?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Push Day:
Chest
Front Delts
Quads
Calves (if you want)
Triceps

Pull Day:
Back
Biceps
Hamstrings
Flyes
Raises

I did flyes and raises on my pull day so I could hit them fresh but also keep stimulation to each group almost continuous.

Like this:

Mon: Push
Tues: HIIT
Weds: Pull
Thurs: HIIT
Fri: Push
Sat: HIIT
Sun: Rest
Mon: Pull
Etc etc etc

If you feel you've got it in you a run before or after each weights session could be do-able. Just be careful that you don't go into too big of a defecit. You should find that the full body split which is quite aerobic in itself coupled with HIIT, Circuits & BB complexes is enough mate.

OT: Got some serious DOMS in my lats & shoulders from KB's!
 
Last edited:
Rusty_Noob said:
Just wanting some advice from all you gym rats in here!

I'm a big bloke, 6ft4 and weigh a shade over 21st. I'm naturally strong due to my build but for the life of me can't bench press. I struggle hitting 10 reps of 30kg, is this normal for someone just starting to bench press? I also read the longer your arms the harder it is to bench due to the greater range of motion, is this true or is this just an excuse for weaklings?
Click to expand...

Hmm.. I have a mate who is your height but heavier and i've noticed he has quite atrocious benching form. Not that mine is 100% perfect of course but 48/49"+ of chest can't be doing it too wrong :D

One thing i would recommend to help you with form is upping the weight slightly and aim for reps of 7/8. This way to weight will help to maintain your form as the more weight the less movement that you are going to get and the more effort will be required from the chest and tri's.

One important thing to consider which people often overlook is that many people always aim to hit their chest with the bar, the only time i ever go for chest with the bar is on a 1rm or a finishing wide grip set. Generally as long as your arms dip just below 90degrees at the joint it will have sufficient impact on your chest and fatigue the muscle a little.

That little tip works fantastically for lighter people/lanky peeps, and should work for you as well... let me know how it works.
 
I think you should try and get a big a range of motion as possible that is comfortable for any exercise. The top half of the movement is primarily tricep so ensure you get a decent range of motion to actually activate the chest.

A common mistake beginners make when benching is having their hands too close together and involving too much tricep. A rule of thumb is that your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor throughout the rep.
 
RaohNS thats a huge bench compared to your squat (and an awesome one at that bodyweight i might add). Whats going on there? :)

I agree with Benny, you should always go full rom. The irony is the exception is lifters specifically training their bench with rack lockouts, floor presses, board/carpet presses etc.. but with at 30kg bench for 10 at 21 stone id say theres something else wrong there.

I think its fair to expect anyone to be able to do 10 reps of paused bench at 50% bodyweight with practically 0 prior training. 30kg isnt even 25% of 21stone so im wondering if there is some injury or flexibility issues.
 
FocusST57 said:
I think its fair to expect anyone to be able to do 10 reps of paused bench at 50% bodyweight with practically 0 prior training. 30kg isnt even 25% of 21stone so im wondering if there is some injury or flexibility issues.
Click to expand...

I don't think we've yet had confirmation whether it is 30kg including the bar or 30kg plus the bar for a total of ~50kg. So it might be that it isn't as out of kilter as it perhaps sounds, either way with practice and focus on form it should be possible to increase it fairly significantly.
 
Sorry for delay in my response. The 30kg is just the bar + 2 5kg plates, I know, it's terrible! I found it really embarassing as I'm a thick built 6ft 4 and I see guys literally half my size doing more than double the weight.

I struggle to do more than 5 press ups, even then they are not nose to the floor. I bought a set of dumbbells and press them with pillows under my shoulders to get a fuller range of motion. They are only 10kg each but I do 40 reps a night with them just to hopefully build a slightly better base so I don't embarass myself as much at the gym.
 
FocusST57 said:
RaohNS thats a huge bench compared to your squat (and an awesome one at that bodyweight i might add). Whats going on there? :)

I agree with Benny, you should always go full rom. The irony is the exception is lifters specifically training their bench with rack lockouts, floor presses, board/carpet presses etc.. but with at 30kg bench for 10 at 21 stone id say theres something else wrong there.

I think its fair to expect anyone to be able to do 10 reps of paused bench at 50% bodyweight with practically 0 prior training. 30kg isnt even 25% of 21stone so im wondering if there is some injury or flexibility issues.
Click to expand...

Lots of upper body, ain't really done squat in months would only manage 110 for 10 atm i reckon lol.

Each to his own, but tbh at my gym folks usually always ask for advice on various routines big one i always get asked is about chest, especially from new people looking to get a good physic and "hulkish" attributes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom