*** The 2012 Gym Rats Thread ***

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Indeed, I wonder where whey protein concentrate is on that.
I'll be back on my turkey breast diet soon then :D

BTW Steedie as you are a diet legend and experienced with this, would it be OK if I posted my current diet here for some quick input/feedback?

I'm about 95kg, a rough 12-15% guestimated bodyfat and want to get myself at 10% in the next 3 weeks. I particularly liked the idea of still having 3-400grams of carbs a day.
 
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I'll post here as others might benefit the advice.

Morning:
-30grams Impact whey
-400grams of fruit(strawberry/half a gala melon/grapes/etc)

Lunch:
200gr chicken breast with a tiny amount of olive oil
cup of broccoli
2 very thin slices of wholemeal bread - I get the Tesco Labrea stuff and it tastes lovely even though it isn't good for you :(

snack - 200grams cherries
3:30pm
protein shake+banana
or cottage cheese + small wholemeal panini or the like from tesco

PWO shake:
2 cups whey protein and 40-50 grams of simple carbs. sometimes I'll have dextrose, sometimes I'll get something sweet and cheeky like some jam/jelly etc.

Dinner: 4 egg omlette with a bit of cheese
Before bed - 30g whey shake with a few almonds.

Depending on the day I'll have a sandwich with one thin slice of wholemeal bread, slice of cheese and a tiny dash of salami.

I know there isn't enough proper food there but it's fairly temporary and I'm struggling to find a balance between cooking time and sticking to the diet. Hence why I have a lot of fruit/sweet stuff to keep me off chocolate and the like.


Any feedback is welcome. :)
 
Steedie said:
Interesting picture...

557080_467611716597339_243352394_n.jpg
Click to expand...

How reliable is that though? I eat canned tuna everyday..lol damn..I've got like 4kg of Impact Whey protein from MyProtein but I want to avoid drinking my calories since I'm only having 2500 calories bulking (still a 500 calorie surplus).

Anyway a lot of you guys have impressive strength and physiques. Definitely motivating for me.

I've just finished building my home gym, it's basic but I can do all the exercises that matter.

The final purchase was a York Workout Tower which is brilliant. Now I can finally do pull ups, chin ups, dips, hanging leg raises which are key exercises.

My routine is now:

Back, Biceps & Traps:

Deadlifts
Pull Ups – To Failure
Chin Ups – To Failure
Bicep Curl
Barbell Shrugs

Chest, Triceps & Shoulders:

Incline Dumbbell Press
Incline Dumbbell Flyes
Flat Dumbbell Press
Tricep Dips - To Failure
Dumbbell Overhead Extensions
Military Press

Legs:

Squats
Standing Leg Deadlifts
Dumbbell Lunges
Calf Raises

Abs (every other day):

Decline Crunches
Hanging Leg Raises
Dragon Flags
Plank

I'm confident my routine will allow me to gain as much muscle as I can in the next 12 months. I'm aiming for more hypertrophy than strength so my rep/set is 3 x 10 for every exercise. Then if I feel like it I'll change it up to 5 x 5. But I'm happy with my progress so far. I add between 1.5kg - 3kg of weight every week for progressive overload.

But damn pull ups/chin ups really work my back & biceps well, the best back exercises without a doubt. Dips are going to be great for my triceps too and hanging leg raises really hit my abs HARD yesterday seriously!

Can't wait to see my results next year! I'm aiming for at least 15-18 pounds of muscle by next July (for my birthday) which is very doable.

Any advice for me guys?
 
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Squats:
60x5
90x5
120x3
140x3

OHP:
30x5
40x5
47.5x5x2
47.5x4

Deadlift:
70x5
110x5
150x2
175x3
175x2f

Cable Curls:
50x12x3


Squats were fairly easy, OHP was tough. Missed final rep of deads, probably will stop squatting and deadlifting heavy in the same session.
 
Bros, do you stand/sit still between sets?

I can't help but walk around - at the meet I had no energy to walk around so was too busy dying on any flat surface I could find but usually I'm walking around between working sets apart from bench press.
 
Rossuk89 said:
Any advice for me guys?
Click to expand...

Don't train to failure. Taxing for the CNS and extends recovery time. Not to mention will drain your explosive power which is key for accelerating the weight and stimulating growth/strength increases.

Stopping training to failure was the best thing I ever did. See HST for further details.
 
sigma said:
Bros, do you stand/sit still between sets?

I can't help but walk around - at the meet I had no energy to walk around so was too busy dying on any flat surface I could find but usually I'm walking around between working sets apart from bench press.
Click to expand...

All of that. I usually immediately sit or lay down. Then I'll get up and walk around a bit.
 
BennyC said:
Don't train to failure. Taxing for the CNS and extends recovery time. Not to mention will drain your explosive power which is key for accelerating the weight and stimulating growth/strength increases.

Stopping training to failure was the best thing I ever did. See HST for further details.
Click to expand...

Good to see you posting back here here dude! Hope things are well :cool:
 
BennyC said:
Don't train to failure. Taxing for the CNS and extends recovery time. Not to mention will drain your explosive power which is key for accelerating the weight and stimulating growth/strength increases.

Stopping training to failure was the best thing I ever did. See HST for further details.
Click to expand...

I've always wondered about that. The only reason I've trained to failure is because I feel as though I haven't worked out enough if I'm still able to lift weights at the end of the session!

I guess I won't train to failure on the pulls, chins and dips. I'll do 3 x 8 or something. Thanks for the advice mate :p
 
Working to failure has its merits, but its definitely not something you should do on every exercise, or every workout for that matter
 
rG-tom said:
Put some meat in the omelette? Steak is awesome in a cheese omelette :) and good protein too
Click to expand...

Never thought about steak, i always threw in some cheese and bacon bits, and lashings of worcestershire sauce.

Nom

Well guys it's pct tomorrow, if you see me on here bawling then just plain avoid me :p

BennyC said:
Don't train to failure. Taxing for the CNS and extends recovery time. Not to mention will drain your explosive power which is key for accelerating the weight and stimulating growth/strength increases.

Stopping training to failure was the best thing I ever did. See HST for further details.
Click to expand...


Spot on. Though i still push hard, every so often i will just have a deload session just to unwind a bit.
 
Steedie said:
Working to failure has its merits, but its definitely not something you should do on every exercise, or every workout for that matter
Click to expand...

Well I'm classed as a beginner so my recovery time is decent at the moment.

I've only trained to failure on chins and dips primarily since they work most the muscles I'm training that day. I usually do it at the end of the session.

I keep reading different opinions on training frequency. Some people recommend that beginners do a full body routine with high volume routine x3 a week (3 x 10 etc).

Then some people recommend doing just 2 exercises per muscle and train twice a week with rep ranges of 5 x 5. Which doesn't seem like a lot of volume but people have said they've had success with that method.

I'll put on muscle on no matter what since I'm a beginner but I'd rather make the most of the next 12 months and train as efficiently as possible, focusing on hypertrophy.

I could compact my current routine into a full body which would look like this:

Squats - 3*8
Deadlifts – 3*8
Pull Ups – 3*10
Chin Ups – 3*10
Bicep Curl – 3*10
Barbell Shrugs – 3*10
Incline Dumbbell Press – 3*10
Flat Dumbbell Press – 3*10
Tricep Dips - 3*10
Military Press – 3*10

Decline Crunches - 3*15
Hanging Leg Raises - 3*15
Plank - 3 sets

But that would take me about 1.5 hours most likely which seems like a long time to be working out or is that another myth? :confused:
 
Bit of an impromptue gym break this week, possibly going to have to start training in the mornings as well which could be fun, hopefully won't hint progress :(
 
Aware me on houmous

Tasty super food (which I can dip cucumber/pepper/tomato in and up the veggies) or no?

(Full fat :D. I imagine the reduced fat just adds sugar/additives)
Click to expand...

anyone? Good bulking food while trying to keep it clean? (and avoid wheat/gluten)
 
Just finished my workout week after starting off on Monday with a Taekwondo session. I had a network job on Thursday evening, so didn't go to the gym that day.

Tuesday - Chest/Triceps:

BB Flat bench press 70kgx8, 70kgx8, 60kgx8 (no spotter);
CGBP 60kgx8, 60kgx8, 55kgx8 (no spotter);
BW dips +10kgx8, +10kgx8, +10kgx8;
DB Flyes 2x12kgx8, 2x12kgx8;
Rope pushdown 21kgx8, 21kgx8;

Wednesday - Back/Biceps:

BB Deadlift 70kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 90kgx5, 90kgx5;
BB Bors 60kgx8, 60kgx8, 70kgx8;
Seated Rows 80kgx8x3;
Narrow-grip pullups +5kgx8, +5kgx8, +5kgx8;
Preacher curls with ez bar 26.5kgx8, 26.5kgx8, 26.5kgx8;

Friday - Legs/Shoulders

BB Squats 70kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 90kgx5, 100kgx5;
BB Calf Raises 70kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 90kgx5, 100kgx5;
Seated Calf extensions 40kgx5, 40kgx5, 20kgx5, 20kgx5, 20kgx5;
BB SLDLs 60kgx5, 70kgx5, 70kgx5, 80kgx5, 90kgx5;
DB Goblet Squats 1x55kgx5x5;
Dumb-bell step up lunges/Shoulder press alternating 2x12kgx5x5 each leg/2x12kgx8x3;
Front raises/side raises alternating 2x7kgx8, 2x7kgx8, 2x6kgx8;
Pinch-grip plate shrugs 2x10kgx8, 2x10kg+2x5kgx8, 2x10kgx8;

Not a bad week, but I did feel weak. My training partner can't always make the gym and he's losing interest in the gym and wants to focus more on indoor rock climbing.

I had a break from indoor rock climbing over the last 5 days, but I am playing with the idea of going Saturday or Sunday all day this weekend.

Next week should hopefully go better. I am going to try to get my squats to 110kg, to parellel as with this weeks workout. I would like to see my preacher curls go up, they haven't been brilliant over the last few weeks. Todays workout was the hardest by a long shot; and I still haven't got my goblet squats past 55kg.

Plus my right eye has been giving me trouble all day ever since I got some rust or muck or something in it whilst I was changing my exhaust back box for todays MoT (at least it passed), I must have really irritated it getting the detritus out /tangent.

David
 
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