*** The 2014 Gym Rats Thread ***

Just bought the original rumble roller, was going to buy one of the cheaper ones but realised I'd probably end up with a rumble eventually and it would have meant buying twice.
 
I've found it a lot easier to brace with a narrower grip if that's what you're getting at?

Possibly. It may also point to a problematic brace pattern (i.e. how you do it) if you NEED your arms in there to stop your back hurting.

Essentially, by bringing your arms in, you (can) increase the amount of torque around your shoulders, which can be transferred to your thoracic spine, so this is - generally - a good/positive thing.

An easy way to differentiate these conflated issues would be to watch you do a front squat and see how your spine reacts in a different loading scenario... either that or when deadlifting.

Practically, it's relatively academic, because if it's leading to gains, it's leading to gains. And that IS a good thing. :)
 
Gotcha. I've not been feeling anything in my lower back to date so I think my bracing has been okay, I just feel a lot tighter in the narrower grip position, particularly at the bottom of the squat. I'll do a follow up form video at some point for you to take a look at.
 
Gotcha. I've not been feeling anything in my lower back to date so I think my bracing has been okay, I just feel a lot tighter in the narrower grip position, particularly at the bottom of the squat. I'll do a follow up form video at some point for you to take a look at.

Yes - it's not uncommon for this to be the reason why some people can't front squat very well: because they can't use their lats. Hence my suggestion. :)

But, if you're not hurting, then it's all good. :)
 
Just done my first SL workout so thought I would post in here. Usually I'm in the road cycling thread but I'm without my bike for a couple of months and, hating the cardio machines in the gym, decided to just do 1 session a week of cardio to try and not loose too much cycling fitness and start lifting weights.

Just been using machines for the past couple of weeks while my gym membership ran out as previous gym had no squat/power rack, and started SL tonight. Was surprised to find almost all the freeweight equipment being used at 10pm, but the squat rack was free :D

Found it difficult to keep my back straight on barbell row, had to pay close attention to my shoulders to try and stop my upper back rounding. Other than yet it felt pretty good for first time touching freeweights, certainly feels less intimidating with all the other men lifting now that I've actually done it.
 
Good work!

You see? It isn't that scary... You'll often find that the guys lifting are actually very friendly (assuming you don't want to distract them from their workout for long periods of time! :)).

Keep it up and build some proper legs for cycling! :D
 
What wrist wraps are people in here using?

I've had MyProtein's before and my current set is a cheapo version from Amazon (AQF I believe), however the velcro has given up on me after about 3 months use. Lost the MyProtein wraps, which is why i only went cheapo the second time around.

Is 3 months use pretty standard? I don't expect them to last forever.
 
Spotters always seem to miss these. You think there would be a better system in place for these heavy lifts given the dangers, like a mechanism of some sort that kicks in on the negative.

Even if if the spotter catches it they're probably going to put their back out in the process.
 
Ive just been watching some Hodgetwins stuff on youtube and when trawling through comments I came across this guy posting..


The faces he pulls have me creased. I feel bad laughing at the guy, hes bigger than me anyway.
 
Spotters always seem to miss these. You think there would be a better system in place for these heavy lifts given the dangers, like a mechanism of some sort that kicks in on the negative.

Even if if the spotter catches it they're probably going to put their back out in the process.

Probably because the spotters are pretending to spot whilst the guy pretends he's bench pressing.
 
I almost gave in and asked my training partner to spot my 1rm bench the other day, luckily I came to my senses and decided it was safer for both of us for me to go it alone.
 
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