*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yeah I know what you mean I've tried to always not lock out as well, I've known that for years....but like I said before when I said I cant explain in words they proper bend their arms. I'd say the two main exercises where people usually make this mistake the most is legpress and dips.

Maybe if I was better at maths I could give an example with an angle or degrees but I cant. I just know they do it completely wrong.

Infact out of my years in the gym I'd say this is the number one exercise I've seen people do wrong. Maybe thats because for some reason whenever I'm in the gym I only see certain people doing certain exercises which is strange. Seems like I always see everyone training shoulders and back, and sometimes chest, I hardly ever see anyone doing legs or arms.

I'd say side raises is number 1 exercise I see people do wrong, then squats, deadlifts bench and dips, most people in my gym do all these exercises with bad form.

I think it's because people go through stages, they start the gym and have bad form to begin with but then eventually those that choose to stick with it, and enjoy it, then begin to learn more and do more research and then realise form is more important then lifting as heavy as you can.

And yeah I've had those video's saved here for a while:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dorian-yates-blood-guts-6-week-trainer.htm

He's pretty much only bodybuilder I listen to now, I think he gives better advice then the rest, I'm currently doing that routine he has in those videos, well it's 99% the same.
 
Was talking about locking out, with their knees lol. I think leg press could possibly be most damaging and dangerous one dont you think? someone lifting 500kg and locking out?

EDIT: Also I got an article here in my favourates if any of you want to read it, to some of you reading this article will be pointless, because you might not learn anything but to others like me I think its good: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dorian_yates_training_insight.htm it's an interview with DY. In text format. Has pictures too to keep you interested ! LOL this is just one of hundreds of articles I've read on him. It's quite a long read. I was just re-reading it then and I'm glad I did because I'm doing back today and I just read this part:

[ Q ] The reverse close-grip lat-pulldown was an exercise that enabled you to gain much of your back size?


The reason I did the close reverse-grip pull down was to put the biceps in a mechanically stronger position. The regular-to-wide grip pulldown puts your biceps in such a weak position and your lats are never really going to go to failure because that is the weak link.

So I tried to make that as strong as possible with a reverse grip. A fairly close-grip because your lats attach under your arms and lower down your back, so the further apart those two points are, the greater the stretch you are going to get and the greater range of motion.
Contrary to what most people think: that a close-grip will not give you as good a stretch as a wide grip. So there are two reasons for doing it. You have to use good control and arch your spine at the bottom when you contract. Then you will be using your lats more.

Am gona try that today because I've always done it the other way with wide grip and hands facing over way but sounds good.
 
Last edited:
Yeah I know what you mean I've tried to always not lock out as well, I've known that for years....but like I said before when I said I cant explain in words they proper bend their arms. I'd say the two main exercises where people usually make this mistake the most is legpress and dips.

:confused:
Bending arms on legpress - so what?
Bending arms when dipping - erm, good?

Although yes, I've seen many people do lateral raises with a 90 degree bend in their arms. I've always wondered if this was some sort of rehab exercise that I haven't seen before...

edit: ah you meant locking out.

Nothing wrong with a full ROM on dips, but yes I'd avoid locking out with heavy leg press (although remember that the full 500kg isn't loaded onto the legs in your example).
 
Last edited:
Icecold your joking yes? I was talking about locking out? you can lockout with your legs too.

Well, anyways...moving on...I wish we had chains in our gym, would be fun for doing bench/dips and other exercises. I see lots of videos online where people use chains.

Also when I seen mma fighters train they use them ropes for that exercises on the floor where they wave the ropes with their arms? not sure what its called, looks good also.
 
Last edited:
I think what you meant to say was that from the way I wrote my post you thought I meant "bending my arms during leg exercises", well, no, thats not what I meant, thats kinda silly.

Also you even quoted my sentance, where I mentioned leg press after mentioning locking out, so one would surely think, "leg press" & "locking out" = which part of the body do you use for leg press? thus I am talking about locking out with legs? Seems plausible! :rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Icecold your joking yes? I was talking about locking out? you can lockout with your legs too.

Well, anyways...moving on...I wish we had chains in our gym, would be fun for doing bench/dips and other exercises. I see lots of videos online where people use chains.

Also when I seen mma fighters train they use them ropes for that exercises on the floor where they wave the ropes with their arms? not sure what its called, looks good also.

Battling ropes http://www.gymratz.co.uk/battling-ropes, theres apparently a gym round here that has all of that sort of equipment as its predominately a fighters gym its something I wouldn't mind trying out as I quite like the idea of developing my strength in a more functional sort of way.
 
SkScotchegg, I wasn't the only one confused by your post, I'm not sure why you're upset.

In your post you mention bending arms in the sentance before talking about dips and leg press. Like it or not, the logical assumption was the one I and Monkee made. Consider proof reading your posts and being more clear with your communication if it annoys you when people misunderstand your point.
 
I'm discussing - on another forum - something relating to the restriction of oxygen during cardio. I remember someone posted on here or started a thread on the topic - but I can't find it.

Doe anyone have a link to more information about this?
Don't worry, I don't want to try it without medical supervision (or at all for that matter), but I'd like more info on it. Reason I was thinking about it - is because the thread (on the other forum) is on how many calories are burned, during an average day riding your downhill bike in the Alps. I'm wondering whether wearing a full-face helmet (which restricts oxygen) has any influence on this.
 
A slight bend in the arm for raises is recommended as it will stop an excess strain/pressure on the shoulder joint from having an increased lever (the weight further away from the body), it afaik removes load from the traps and also helps to engage the delts more.

I've seen some truely gob smacking form for raises so much so though I think I've seen it all.

Mmm - I've seen some quite dodgy stuff at the gym, but this is coming from the Person who allowed a barbell to fall on his chest when he didn't use a spotter..silly me haha

On a side note/wild tangent, the Asda Good For You Red Pepper & Chilli Cottage Cheese is very very nice, it's probably my favourite as I love hot Foods.
 
Do runners not train at higher altitudes due to the lack of oxygen?

May be talking complete nonsense.

They do, because it increases the number of red blood cells in the blood. But they remain at high altitude all the time, which is why it has a positive effect. I would worry that simply restricting oxygen for an hour a day is going to have a limited effect on your red blood cell count, and would instead impact your performance negatively.
 
Well, my recent injury (impingement syndrome in left shoulder) has knocked me a huge blow. I feel like everything that I have learned over the last few years has been completely undermined. I'm now scared to lift anything in case I'm doing it wrong and going to hurt myself more. It's probably not helped by the fact that it is taking a long time to recover. I still can't even do a press-up without it hurting. :(

In short, I feel like I've got it all wrong, I'm embarrassed/ashamed, feel like I need to start again, and I don't want to. :( Motivation is at an absolute zero at the moment. I've been told that I can and should do regular cardio until I recover, but I just can't muster up the effort to do it.
 
Well 4 weeks and no gym, just tailored my diet to suit my lifestyle change and dropped nearly 10lbs! :eek: :(

I'm really getting ****ed off with myself for not going - but working the hours I am at the moment I just have no motivation for it. It's so not like me - I don't know why.

I jut hope things start to settle into more routine soon. I'm going to be in agony when I start going again! :D
 
I haz new pb :p!

Well maybe not that cool but I did get a new pb for deads today. I did 180kg about 3 weeks ago but it was horrible form (pretty much stiff legged it :p) and I'm just testing my 1RMs this week, mainly just for fun. Anyway I did my usual warm up but with fewer reps and then the weights were as follows:

160kg
180kg
190kg
195kg! :)

I think I would have gotten 200kg but yesterday I did loads of new conditioning work that had a lot of emphasis on lower back and hamstrings so today wasn't as good as it could have been, but oh well its still an increase of 20kg from November :). On Friday I'm going to see if I can crack 160kg on my squat which should be fun.

Oh and I have mega-love for Vibram FiveFingers :D

@p4radox: Awesome, nice work. How is your squat doing now, did you try any of those changes?
 
Last edited:
I'm going to be in agony when I start going again! :D

You can say that again :p

I haz new pb :p!

Very nice lifting sunshine!

I've broken a few PB's this week too :)

Oh and I have mega-love for Vibram FiveFingers :D

I love mine too. It's like being barefoot, just have to be careful when in the pit to not drop any plates or BB's on your toes! You do get some odd looks. Some 'youth man' laughed at them as I walked past him and his inbred missus on the way back from the gym:confused: jokes on him @ the job centre most likely.

Frustratingly I had to wait for the olympic bar before I could get going working out my 10's for HST yesterday. Don't get me wrong I don't mind waiting for a bar if somebody can tell me how many sets they have left or how long they'll be and I'd never rush them. However the resident chest & triceps monkey with his phobia of training legs, when asked how many sets he had left seemed very confused and replied 'ooo, errrm, uhhh, 2....maybe 3?'.

Surely you will know how many sets you've got left on that particular exercise. The slowlness of his response and general confusion conveyed that he hadn't even given any thought in regards to his volume and his intensity was none existant loading the bar, walking to the fountain, having a chat and then taking 2 minutes under the bar to 'get in the zone'.
 
Last edited:
Guys,

Thinking about following;

Workout A

Squats 3 5
Bench Press 3 5
Deadlift 1 5
Pull Ups 3 10


Workout B

Squats 3 5
Standing Military Press 3 5
Bent Over Rows 1 5
Pull Ups 3 10


Now the only problem here is I am also training for a half marathon at the moment, is it worth dropping the squats down to once a week and swapping them out? Or just grind through the pain on runs?

If it is best to swap them out, what to swap them out with?
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom