*** The 2016 Gym Rats Thread ***

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Really struggling to make any progress on my lat pulldowns at the moment, they stalled badly before I took my hiatus from the gym, and its still an area I consider my weakest.

I don't have the strength for pullups as yet - is there any accessory work I can do to try and move these on a bit?
 
BOR, should be one of your main back exercises. But assisted pull ups, use bands if no machine, and negative pull ups. Pull ups > all. :)
 
Rids said:
Really struggling to make any progress on my lat pulldowns at the moment, they stalled badly before I took my hiatus from the gym, and its still an area I consider my weakest.

I don't have the strength for pullups as yet - is there any accessory work I can do to try and move these on a bit?
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I was in a similar situation. I bought a pull up bar for the house and was surprised I could do one. I did a pull up and negatives every few days and then I could do three :D I'm sure the progression would have continued but I hurt my shoulder.

If you don't want to do them in the gym it's worth buying a pull up bar for the house as they'll attached to almost all door frames.
 
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Rids said:
Really struggling to make any progress on my lat pulldowns at the moment, they stalled badly before I took my hiatus from the gym, and its still an area I consider my weakest.

I don't have the strength for pullups as yet - is there any accessory work I can do to try and move these on a bit?
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Pfffft... I bet you think doing leg press qualifies you as a squatter, too? ;)

Negative pull-ups. Do them.
 
Seems its going to have to be negative pulls up then :o

Tempted to invest in a pull up bar, as I'd feel a bit of a ******* doing negatives at the gym (I know, everybody is working out, nobody is looking at me, its all in my head) - however I'm currently renting a room from an extremely house proud mate. If I did any damage to his property I would probably have to hang myself from it.
 
You can also do these:

Start with a height were you can hit all your reps/sets then gradually reduce the height of your feet over time (or more likely, if you were using the Smith machine and a bench, increasing the height of the bar) until you're unassisted.
 
Managed a PB squat today, I'd de-loaded at 77.5kg after failing 3 times 2 weeks ago (SL 5x5), today was the first attempt at 77.5kg after working my way back up - nailed it first time :) Bodyweight squats 5x5 on Friday if all goes to plan (13st 2lbs, 82kg). After that, 100kg squats :D

Not too bad considering I started in February and de-loaded at 55kg in march on the squat.
 
RaohNS said:
Cheers very much :)

I pull conventional (hitching fine)
Deadlift every 9-10days (almost always same routine for DL but with boltons like partials or upper back seated rows about 100kg-120kg per stack depending on fatigue)
I peaked last year but at the moment have hit my ceiling and it just wont or rather I don't want to risk pulling bigger and getting a fail as negatives don't really do anything for deadlifting.
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You say that you do "almost always same routine for DL" but does that vary the volume and intensities session by session?

It seems you've just hit a plateau and the primary cause is potentially a stagnant program.

If that sounds about right then we need to find a way to start shifting your body back into high gear!

Try this 4 week mini block for deads and see how it goes

The following assumes your deadlift form is solid, consistent and without excessive rounding:

Week 1: Deadlift: 4x5x80% + 6x3x60% + RDL: 3x8x60%
Week 2: Deadlift: 2x1x90% + 3x3x85% + 6x3x65% + RDL: 3x6x70%
Week 3: Deadlift: 2x2x80% + 6x3x70%
Week 4: New Max

For weeks 1-2 add in your usual upper back work for week 3 half the volume of it.

This does have you deadlifting every seven days, if that's not an option thehn feel free to adapt it to your time frame.

EDIT: for the RDL base it off an RDL max if you have one and if you don't then take it to be 60-70% of your DL max.
 
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kcon1 said:
Anything wrong with using a narrow grip on bench (about 18 inches)? I feel a lot stronger doing that, or should I try and get used to a wider grip?
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There is nothing wrong with it... If you have the shoulder width of a 2 year old spider monkey.

If you are a male of average height and build, then you stand an excellent chance of completely isolating your triceps and anterior deltoid sad the agonist muscles. In other words: you aren't going to be using any chest... So if you want to make those chest gains, widen your grip to about a thumb's length outside your shoulders

Narrow grip bench (which is what you are doing by the sound of it) is a great exercise for anterior delts and triceps (as already highlighted). :)
 
Was in full flow of Stronglift 5x5 last March, After some hip problems I did some physio work to balance things out. An afternoon of single leg exercises and my foot felt tender.

Queue my 5th metatarsal snapping on me that evening. A year passed and I neglected everything. I had a depressing year of losing strength and struggled to motivate myself to do anything. (6 weeks+ on crutches does that)

Anyway its now 2016 and I got back into gym. I fired up my Stronglift 5x5 app and was told how long it had been since I trained, and to deload everything.

My numbers in Feb 2015 were Squat 115kg, Bench 102.5, Barbell Row 72.5, OHP 60kg and Deadlift was 150kg but with a 200kg PB at time.

Now all of them figures are halved and I weighed 1.5stone less, and look 1.5x crapper than I did last year.

I suppose the lesson guys, if you have a niggling injury, rest it, strengthen it, physio it, do whatever you gotta do to avoid a break and a depressing year like mine! :(
 
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I've been following this plan for the past month or so, I sort of pieced it together from various articles and YouTube videos. I would appreciate any suggestions if there is anything I am missing/should not be doing.

Bicep dumbell curl 3x8 @ 8.5KG
Dumbell Press 3x8 @ 8.5KG
Overhead dumbell tricep extension 3x8 @ 10KG
Squat 3x8 @ 20KG
Bent over row 3x8 @ 20KG

I do this every other day and have been steadily adding weight each week. My own weight hasn't changed but I was losing about 1KG each week before I started through dieting, so hopefully something is happening.

5x5 seems popular here, is there any advantage to this that would be worth me changing what I'm currently doing?
 
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bobbyspangles said:
I've been following this plan for the past month or so, I sort of pieced it together from various articles and YouTube videos. I would appreciate any suggestions if there is anything I am missing/should not be doing.

Bicep dumbell curl 3x8 @ 8.5KG
Dumbell Press 3x8 @ 8.5KG
Overhead dumbell tricep extension 3x8 @ 10KG
Squat 3x8 @ 20KG
Bent over row 3x8 @ 20KG

I do this every other day and have been steadily adding weight each week. My own weight hasn't changed but I was losing about 1KG each week before I started through dieting, so hopefully something is happening.

5x5 seems popular here, is there any advantage to this that would be worth me changing what I'm currently doing?
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Yes, because you are restricting your gains by:

A) Not squatting for strength
B) Not deadlifting

Stronglifts also forces the lifter to progress their weights, too...

Most of the genuinely strong people on this forum basically squat, bench and deadlift with some accessory work... They also happen to have the physiques most people would envy.
 
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