* The 2012 Gym Rats Thread *

opethdisciple · 26 Aug 2012 at 18:53

Ultra_Extreme said:
You could easy do a lot more, dont worry about too much only too little, plus 30mins a bit crap try to push for an hour get fat burning, you wont be exhausting your blood/liver sugars in that time

Do I really need to be doing 1hour of swimming? Seems an awful lot!

I'll be a champion swimmer by the end of it! 4 x 1hr a week is championship material!!

Im going to up my session to 45mins I think for the next few weeks, then well see about upping it to 1hr.

Djdom56 · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:22

Deception said:
I've been on Wendler for a few months now, so want to re-test my maxes and then start again (with a few minor tweaks to the kg increase, so it doesnt get too hard, too fast).

When I first started, my maxes were:

Squat: 115
Deadlift: 150
OHP: 67.5x3
Bench: 100x3

So far, I've played around with Deadlift (160kg) and OHP(75kg) for maxes during the programme, but that was only after doing some of my working set, so want to do it properly.

OK so lets say hypothetical maxes of:
Squat - 130kg
Bench - 105kg
Deadlift - 160kg
OHP - 75kg

My sets would look like:
Squat - barx8, 60kgx5, 80kgx3, 100kgx1, 120kgx1, 125kgx1, 130kgx1 . . .
Bench - barx10, 40kgx8x 60kgx5, 70kgx3, 80kgx1, 90kgx1, 95kgx1, 100kgx1, 105kgx1 . . .
Deadlift - 60kgx6, 80kgx5, 100kgx3, 120kgx2, 140kgx1, 150kgx1, 155kgx1, 160kgx1 . . .
OHP - barx8, 40kgx5, 50kgx3, 60kgx1, 70kgx1, 75kgx1 . . .

Much like Syla5 said really. The principle being take a few as you need to get warm, then do singles to get a bit more mentally ready and go from there. If the rep is really easy stick a lot of weight on for the next, if you can't really tell put something a little more conservative on and if it's hard but you have more there put a small amount of weight on.

Just make sure you don't get all worked up just because you have put something on the bar you haven't lifted before. The weight on the bar doesn't matter at all, it's just another rep. It may be one that is harder than you are used to but again, that doesn't matter.

Nothing matters when you are going for pbs except that the weight moves in the direction it should.

But obviously, don't snap your **** up

.

Gamefreak501 · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:48

So I finished my weeks work today.

Friday: Back and Biceps

BB deadlift: 60kgx8, 60kgx8, 90kgx8; (should have done a 5x5 I think, oops).

Narrow grip pull ups: BWx8, BWx7, BWx8;

BB Bent-over-rows: 60kgx8, 60kgx8, 70kgx8;

Lever Seated Rows: 70kgx8, 70kgx8, 70kgx8;

Preacher curls: Ez bar: 26.5kgx8, fixed bb: 35kgx8, Ez bar: 26.5kgx8;

-----------

Sunday: Chest and triceps - no spotter

BB Flat bench press: 60kgx8; 70kgx8, 80kgx3

, 70kgx8;

BB CGBP: 50kgx8, 60kgx8, 60kgx8;

DB Flyes: 2x14kgx8, 2x14kgx8;

Chest Dips: BW+5kg for 3 sets of 8;

Rope pushdowns: 16.25kgx8, 18.75kgx8, 18.75kgx8;

-----

Todays workout was pretty brutal and I am keeping a consistent diet. Form is leaps and bounds ahead though from where it was. If I did 5x5s on the deadlifts as I was meant to, I think I would have managed 5x5s on 80kg at least.

Any idea how I can change my program to shock my system? It's been pretty much the same for the last year

David

Somnambulist · 26 Aug 2012 at 20:49

FeFiDoh said:
Anyone do any Olympic lifts in their routine? I am thinking of adding in some clean & jerks, snatches etc.. and training for more explosive power. Trouble is never done any of them before so unsure on how best to work a routine around them.

I'd like to but you need a gym where the weights are the ones that bounce and they're happy for people to drop them from height. Also slightly obvious but IMO the Oly lifts are technically well above your typical barbell movements and I'd probably look at getting some proper coaching on them rather than just using the internets.

Cristian · 26 Aug 2012 at 23:59

Somnambulist said:
I'd like to but you need a gym where the weights are the ones that bounce and they're happy for people to drop them from height. Also slightly obvious but IMO the Oly lifts are technically well above your typical barbell movements and I'd probably look at getting some proper coaching on them rather than just using the internets.

Aside from technique you also need ridiculous amounts of flexibility.
just check that out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lFEpP89xQ4&feature=related

Ultra_Extreme · 27 Aug 2012 at 02:53

opethdisciple said:
Do I really need to be doing 1hour of swimming? Seems an awful lot!

I'll be a champion swimmer by the end of it! 4 x 1hr a week is championship material!!

Im going to up my session to 45mins I think for the next few weeks, then well see about upping it to 1hr.

How exactly is that gonna hurt your weightloss fella?

Sorry but i bust my ass for several hours a week 4x weights sessions of 1.5hrs and 3x squash sessions of 3+ hrs im still no mens health cover model after years of it. If you manage it please let me know what you did

Delvis · 27 Aug 2012 at 10:08

Need to eat less UE

N19h7m4r3 · 27 Aug 2012 at 10:10

Delvis said:
Need to eat less UE

NO! I love my food and I'd rather do more work than eat less awesomeness

Deception · 27 Aug 2012 at 10:21

Thanks a lot Djom and Syla. Its Squats today, so hopefully I wont snap my **** up

. That would be a good start to the week!

Deception · 27 Aug 2012 at 10:53

Ok, well im still alive and managed to get away with 135kg for a PB! I didnt want to go any further has I had no spotters and it was starting to get rather heavy! Well, not a bad increase (20kg) from when I first started, so im happy with that

.

I want to thank everyone who helped in the mobility thread, back when I was struggling with form and only lifting 70kg several months ago!

Bench tomorrow!

Syla5 · 27 Aug 2012 at 11:21

Nice work deception that's good going. Do you have catch bars at all? If so there is no need for a spotter. Also, if you have catch bars, it's worth practicing failing a couple of times, so that you can build confidence in the catch bars. Sounds a bit strange, but it really does help
with the mental side of trying for 1rm's

Deception · 27 Aug 2012 at 11:33

Syla5 said:
Nice work deception that's good going. Do you have catch bars at all? If so there is no need for a spotter. Also, if you have catch bars, it's worth practicing failing a couple of times, so that you can build confidence in the catch bars. Sounds a bit strange, but it really does help
with the mental side of trying for 1rm's

Nope, got nothing like that, hence I stopped there.. If I got stuck at the bottom, Im screwed :eek:

. I think its time to invest in a decent squat rack now though.

LiE · 27 Aug 2012 at 11:34

Nice one deception, squat maxes are tough! When I did my last squat RM I failed the first attempt, had to drop it on the catchers. Nailed it the 2nd try though

Ultra_Extreme · 27 Aug 2012 at 12:07

Delvis said:
Need to eat less UE

yep, well actually i have a pretty nice balance running now im working on the theory that a 230lb monster will burn a lot of calories passivley so im just gonna pack on the mass with min fat and let science (and naughty supps) do the rest

Deception · 27 Aug 2012 at 12:19

LiE said:
Nice one deception, squat maxes are tough! When I did my last squat RM I failed the first attempt, had to drop it on the catchers. Nailed it the 2nd try though

Thanks LiE, I know what you mean! I was giving it all I got, determined to not get stuck 'in the hole' as I wouldnt be getting back out!

. Should I lower it to 120kg for when I restart Wendler, just so I got some left in the tank for when I do my + reps.

N19h7m4r3 · 27 Aug 2012 at 12:25

Ultra_Extreme said:
yep, well actually i have a pretty nice balance running now im working on the theory that a 230lb monster will burn a lot of calories passivley so im just gonna pack on the mass with min fat and let science (and naughty supps) do the rest

Even without the sauce your BMR will be much higher with the more lean mass you pack on.

N19h7m4r3 · 27 Aug 2012 at 12:59

opethdisciple said:
Ok so todays session consited of this:

Bench Press 5x5
Incline bench 3x8
DB Fly 3x12
Barbel Curls 3x10
Plank

I switched the incline DB to just regular incline bench as the incline bench was free, so thought it would be easier. Thats all good isnt it?

Also at the moment, my energy is what is letting me down rather than strength. (My muscles are shaking right now)

I give everything to the Bench Press so by the time I get to the Incline Im running on an empty tank, and then DB Fly's is just painful.

Will this improve in time?

Here's an article on knee friendly exercises that'll help build your legs.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/kneefriendly_quad_builders

LiE · 27 Aug 2012 at 13:20

Deception said:
Thanks LiE, I know what you mean! I was giving it all I got, determined to not get stuck 'in the hole' as I wouldnt be getting back out! . Should I lower it to 120kg for when I restart Wendler, just so I got some left in the tank for when I do my + reps.

Use 135, you did that after all. Wendler takes 10% off don't forget.

Djdom56 · 27 Aug 2012 at 13:47

Deception said:
Ok, well im still alive and managed to get away with 135kg for a PB! I didnt want to go any further has I had no spotters and it was starting to get rather heavy! Well, not a bad increase (20kg) from when I first started, so im happy with that .

I want to thank everyone who helped in the mobility thread, back when I was struggling with form and only lifting 70kg several months ago!

Bench tomorrow!

Nice work man!

Yeah it may be time for a nice new rack

.

Looking forward to see how the rest of the tests go!

Deception · 27 Aug 2012 at 15:33

LiE said:
Use 135, you did that after all. Wendler takes 10% off don't forget.

Ah ok. I thought I remember you saying how you did xx, but lowered it for Wendler. I guess that's what you meant with the 10% off.

-Edit- Just found what I was referring too:

LiE said:
Do you need to retest your maxes? You said you've done a 160 DL recently so you can use that, or do what I do and use a more conservative number, say 150-155.

*** The 2012 Gym Rats Thread ***

* The 2012 Gym Rats Thread *