*** The 2012 Gym Rats Thread ***

Status
Not open for further replies.
Had a rubbish 6-7 weeks with holiday/injury and now unsure whether to shift a few kilos by running a calorie deficit to cut down my belly or to carry on as I am at the moment :(
 
Did my legs today:

BB Back Squats: 5x80kg, 5x90kg, 5x100kg, 5x110kg, 5x120kg.
BB Calf Raises: 5x100kg, 5x100kg, 5x100kg, 5x100kg, 5x100kg
BB SLDLs: 5x100kg, 5x100kg (mixed grip), 5x100kg (mixed grip), 5x100kg (mixed grip), 5x100kg (mixed grip).
Seated Calf Extension: 5x30kg, 5x40kg, 5x50kg, 5x50kg, 5x50kg
DB Goblet Squat: 50kgx5x5
Step up Lunges, 2x20kg plates x5x5 each leg.
15 mins Treadmill CV, 4 mins @10km, 1min @15.1km to 15mins.

The last set on the Squats was a little scary, I definitely felt the +10kg increase over last week.

The chalk came in very useful - my grip has improved a fair bit as a result - thanks all.

I'm still going to carry on with my farmers walks and pinch plate exercises before my climbing course on 9th & 16th June.

There has been a good increase mostly, sldls are up 5kg, calf raises are up 5kg and calf extension which I used to do @30kg have gone up 20kg.

No improvements anywhere else, but I wasn't confident about going up on the goblet squats or step up lunges as the squats previously took it out of me.

David
 
anyone had dealings with strengthshop uk? their stuff looks good and their prices aren't too bad but their delivery charges to n.ireland are shocking!

£100 delivery for a bar and 80kg of plates (100kg total)

The gear worth the outlay?
 
I've been doing Starting Strength for the last month or so now and, while the lifting is going well, I'm a little concerned about my weight gain. Been following the Leangains diet (20% over maintenance on training days, 20% under maintenance on rest days) and I've gone from 14st 4lb to 14st 10lb in the last two weeks. Given I have an overall calorie deficit at the end of the week, how can I be gaining weight this quickly?

I follow the exercise program and diet religiously with no cheat days, I also make sure I get enough protein in my diet every day. From looking in the mirror it looks like my love handles are getting slightly less prominent, but surely I can't have put 6lb of muscle on in only four weeks?
 
icecold said:
I'd guess that you've miscalculated your BMR or daily calorie totals.

How much training experience do you have?
Click to expand...

Not much experience. Up until last month I hadn't lifted weights for about 6 years, and even then that was only a few months of moderate exercising. I guess you could say I'm a noob.

I've calculated my BMR and adjusted it for activity levels. I log every calorie with the MyFitnessPal app on the iPad/phone/computer so I know for sure I'm hitting the targets for every day.

Really can't put my finger on it. My biceps have grown a little and my forearms/calf muscles seem more defined. I'm still struggling to believe that this is anything other than unwanted fat gain, however.
 
Cheers for the link LiE,

Just installed the app on my phone, should come in very useful. I have added the weights that I did this week on there, as I don't know my max, so figured those would be the best to put down.

Did some chest work today:

Decline BB Press: 60kgx8, 60kgx8, 80kgx6
BW Chest Dips: +10kgx8x3
BB CGBP: 60kgx8, 60kgx8, 50kgx8
DB Flys: 2x14kg x8x1
Cable Rope Pushdowns: 23.75kgx8x2

Not a bad workout considering my breakfast was just a bowl of fruit and fibre served with 125ml semi-skimmed milk (I was running late for my contact lens trial fit). A little annoyed about the weight inconsistencies on the decline bb press and cgbps. I am planning to do the decline presses for 3 more weeks and then going to inclines for 4 weeks.

Post workout I had a very naughty Burger King meal - a XXL double bacon cheeseburger with chips and cola :o.

But I don't have nearly enough fat & calories in my diet at present. Fortunately, my last 'bad' meal was way back in january and the odd pig out isn't a bad thing. My weight has remained at 77kg for at least 4 months although there has been a little loss in body fat as I can see my stomach better.

I'll be upping the protein/carbs/fats from Monday.

I plan to eat better over today and tomorrow as it's going to be a back/biceps day on Sunday, so I need to feed them muscles. Plus with my rock climbing as well, I am going to have to consider a diet of probably nearer to 3750kcal on training days and 3500kcal on non-training days. I'm on something like 3000 on training days and 2750kcal on non training days, which may go a long way in explaining why I haven't breached the 77kg mark.

Any tips on growing my biceps? They're not really growing and my back/biceps consists of the following:

BW+10kg narrow grip chin ups, bb deadlifts, bb bor, seated Row, preacher curls. All are 8x3s.

David
 
Ant84 said:
Not much experience. Up until last month I hadn't lifted weights for about 6 years, and even then that was only a few months of moderate exercising. I guess you could say I'm a noob.

I've calculated my BMR and adjusted it for activity levels. I log every calorie with the MyFitnessPal app on the iPad/phone/computer so I know for sure I'm hitting the targets for every day.

Really can't put my finger on it. My biceps have grown a little and my forearms/calf muscles seem more defined. I'm still struggling to believe that this is anything other than unwanted fat gain, however.
Click to expand...
Potentially your activity level adjustment was a little aggressive.

4 weeks is a little early to be making changes though, give it another two weeks. Given your untrained state, a relatively high proportion of that weight gain could be muscle, but certainly not all.

Standard procedure would be to reduced kcals by 200 per day and see what happens.
 
icecold said:
Potentially your activity level adjustment was a little aggressive.

4 weeks is a little early to be making changes though, give it another two weeks. Given your untrained state, a relatively high proportion of that weight gain could be muscle, but certainly not all.

Standard procedure would be to reduced kcals by 200 per day and see what happens.
Click to expand...

I thought I was being conservative with my BMR activity levels since I go to the gym three times a week. My multiplier was only x1.4!
 
Thanks.

As for diet, usually I'll fast until around 4pm as the Leangains program suggests, working out on an empty stomach and 10g BCAA pre-workout. Following the workout I have as large a meal as I can manage, normally consisting of 500g lean chicken or beef and around 200g wholemeal fusilli pasta with some yoghurt or mixed with tzatziki. The rest of the day I'll try and increase my calorie intake with home made shakes consisting of 500ml whole milk, bananas, chocolate powder, peanut butter, 100g oats and natural honey. Even on rest days I stick to this same diet, just in smaller quantities.

I occasionally treat myself to a few pieces of chocolate or a very small chocolate dessert, but it's rare I do that as I try my best to keep on track. Even when I have a 'cheat' snack, I make sure it fits my macros and doesn't take me over my calorie limit for the day. Whey protein is also a regular part of my diet post-workout and sometimes to up my daily protein intake if I'm falling behind. If I'm falling behind on carb intake I'll usually have a bowl of wholegrain cereal with whole milk. I'm trying to drink around two litres of water per day.

In any case, I'm hitting my specified calories given by the spreadsheet on every day of the week, I'm working out on the days I should work out and I'm doing the exercises it tells me to do, lifting as heavy as I can manage.

I thought it'd be pretty much impossible to gain weight at all on a weekly calorie deficit, let alone 6lb in a few weeks. I want to continue with the diet as I'm coping with it easily and still eating my favourite foods, but I'm just a little concerned. My body shape seems to be getting better though since I started, so maybe I should take more notice of the mirror rather than the scale.
 
Last edited:
Can you give us a run down of what you eat? You might be within your macros, but it doesn't mean you are eating too much carp :p
 
icecold said:
Well... yeah, obviously!

Why did this happen, are you ill?
Click to expand...

Hungover on the Friday, had a bowl of soup - feeling awful. Woke up and eat some toast. Thought I felt fine, weights weren't too bad to be truthful but the bit (7mins) of cardio at the end just ruined me I had to lie down after it :(

One footlong sorted me right out, followed by tonights BBQ should sort me out for lower body day tomorrow :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom