The 2020 Gym Rats Thread ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ

reiyushin · 24 Jan 2020 at 12:04

10mm all the way unless you're going all out on the SBD belt (which improves convenience, not performance) then a 10mm belt is so much easier to get on with.

ShortWarning · 24 Jan 2020 at 12:30

GiraffePencils said:
Depends on what you use it for, So I'd always get a 10mm belt
But I have a squat belt and a deadlifting belt. because there's more space for deadlifts.

Long term, eventually you'll get heavy and you'll need a belt to brace your core against.

I'm lifting as heavy as I can! I guess it's all relative.

CaptainRAVE said:
This is the one I use https://www.strengthshop.co.uk/strengthshop-10mm-lever-belt.html as recommended on here. The lever has its pros and cons, but I love it.

Thanks, I'll look into picking this up when I get paid.

dirtychinchilla · 24 Jan 2020 at 14:26

I love my belt, a Gunsmith Fitness one. In hindsight, I might have fared better with a levered belt.

I've found they are not only good for bracing, but are also a confidence booster. Some weights I wasn't sure I could lift feel more achievable when I've got my belt on. Conversely, I forgot it one day recently and dropped my weights by about 8% as I didn't feel confident lifting without it.

mrthingyx · 24 Jan 2020 at 16:54

ShortWarning said:
Dropped my squats (again), bench and bent over rows after failing for a few sessions. I think for me squatting 100kg+ (dropped to 112.5kg) will never feel easy, every rep is still a struggle but I recover quicker at lighter a weight but my bench and bent over rows felt super easy at a lower weight which was nice.

Is there any point I should consider using a belt guys? I understand the benefit of it, I'm kind of doing okay without it but I'm thinking of using one. I seem to be the only person in the gym not using one for squats and deadlifts, haha.

Depends what you are going for... Most people that aren't going for powerlifting/weightlifting totals do not need one because it is unlikely they will ever stress themselves that much.

If it's hypertrophy, then if you're squatting that much you would probably benefit from isolation exercises, anyway.

However, I am probably the only person on this forum that doesn't use a belt (check my lifts - that must be correlation, amirite???), and will probably told I am talking nonsense.

CaptainRAVE · 24 Jan 2020 at 16:58

mrthingyx said:
Depends what you are going for... Most people that aren't going for powerlifting/weightlifting totals do not need one because it is unlikely they will ever stress themselves that much.

If it's hypertrophy, then if you're squatting that much you would probably benefit from isolation exercises, anyway.

However, I am probably the only person on this forum that doesn't use a belt (check my lifts - that must be correlation, amirite???), and will probably told I am talking nonsense.

Possibly the only person on the planet

Most people don’t need one, I agree. The funniest are the people who walk around the whole time with a belt on.

Skidder · 24 Jan 2020 at 17:01

I use a 4 inch belt for squats and three inch for deadlift on heavy sets. I do feel I brace better and have more confidence. Only use them past about 120kg

mrthingyx · 24 Jan 2020 at 17:50

CaptainRAVE said:
Possibly the only person on the planet

Most people don’t need one, I agree. The funniest are the people who walk around the whole time with a belt on.

To be fair, I curl with weightlifting shoes on. In the squat rack. :cool:

Admittedly, it is my gym, so...

CaptainRAVE · 24 Jan 2020 at 17:59

mrthingyx said:
To be fair, I curl with weightlifting shoes on. In the squat rack.

Admittedly, it is my gym, so...

Fair

CaptainRAVE · 25 Jan 2020 at 09:32

Deads yesterday for 212.5kg for 4x4 then 2x2. Has been a busy week and it felt heavy yesterday. Wanted to do rows and flys after, but AC joint was slightly tender. As usual after a back day it’s now completely ok. Fortunately my back felt completely fine during the lifts as I felt a small twinge after squats on Monday that I think was in the muscle rather than vertebrate.

When I have the money I’m going to pick up some knee sleeves for squats and squat shoes. Broke at the moment though

CaptainRAVE · 26 Jan 2020 at 12:41

New bench totals, but wish my ac joint felt more secure throughout the lift. No pain or much feeling during and only a small ache after, but no bench for me next week. Just don’t have confidence in them. Perhaps just some light dumbbells for reps. Hopefully a couple of weeks rest are what they need. I don’t want to go back to zero again.

Skidder · 26 Jan 2020 at 14:22

I can't gym at moment as called away from home as my dad is ill and looking after mum etc. it will prob be 2 week gap at least. wondering whether to restart this madcow cycle or scale back even more. I was about 4 weeks in to this cycle and it was gruelling enough so at least need to restart. Thoughts?

CaptainRAVE · 26 Jan 2020 at 14:28

Skidder said:
I can't gym at moment as called away from home as my dad is ill and looking after mum etc. it will prob be 2 week gap at least. wondering whether to restart this madcow cycle or scale back even more. I was about 4 weeks in to this cycle and it was gruelling enough so at least need to restart. Thoughts?

There is no harm in scaling back a program in order to come back stronger. I have repeated previous cycles many times and always end up stronger by the end. It’s the best way to work through a plateau I find. It’s easy to think it’s a waste of time, but your building strength and muscle still while your doing it and probably doing it with better form too.

I’ll be repeating this bench cycle once my shoulder has rested up.

Musty Pie · 27 Jan 2020 at 11:22

Any of you gym lot do any skipping just out of interest?

Skidder · 27 Jan 2020 at 11:28

Thanks, I've been doing hiit stuff Just to do something. I think I'll probably knock it back to the previous cycle

CaptainRAVE · 27 Jan 2020 at 12:57

Musty Pie said:
Any of you gym lot do any skipping just out of interest?

I've a couple of gym friends who do loads.

ShortWarning · 27 Jan 2020 at 13:17

mrthingyx said:
Depends what you are going for... Most people that aren't going for powerlifting/weightlifting totals do not need one because it is unlikely they will ever stress themselves that much.

If it's hypertrophy, then if you're squatting that much you would probably benefit from isolation exercises, anyway.

However, I am probably the only person on this forum that doesn't use a belt (check my lifts - that must be correlation, amirite???), and will probably told I am talking nonsense.

I have a question about hypertrophy training based on the above. With any type of training are you not just trying to lift the heaviest you can just with a higher rep range in hypertrophy based training? In which case wouldn't a belt be useful as it would be just as difficult?

If you're not lifting the heaviest weights you can, when would you know when to move up?

Musty Pie · 27 Jan 2020 at 14:17

CaptainRAVE said:
I've a couple of gym friends who do loads.

I am starting myself, but i bought the wrong rope to learn with really, so waiting on a slighted weighted one to see if that helps me learn the timing and basics with less "trips".

Its the only gym based cardio I seem to enjoy so going to try stick with it.

mrthingyx · 27 Jan 2020 at 16:00

ShortWarning said:
I have a question about hypertrophy training based on the above. With any type of training are you not just trying to lift the heaviest you can just with a higher rep range in hypertrophy based training? In which case wouldn't a belt be useful as it would be just as difficult?

If you're not lifting the heaviest weights you can, when would you know when to move up?

It really depends on how advanced a lifter we are talking about, as well as a buckload of other variables.

To be the biggest, the top body builders are also some of the strongest. However, this doesn't mean they'd be lifting triples or even singles: a lot of their work would also go into machines, simply because they are safer to work to exhaustion/failure - not squats or deadlifts.

Remember: most body builders are not what I would describe as "functional" athletes, so ROM is not really as much of a concern for them.

Belts are useful for hammering the volume (where the surrounding muscles can't keep up with the working ones), but I would query the training structure if a hypertrophy person is squatting that much and not using a leg press, leg extension, or hamstring curl machine.

If strength is the game, then belts will be useful for the final sets in something with unpleasantly high volume, or reassurance for those high intensity lifts/1RM...

CaptainRAVE · 27 Jan 2020 at 16:38

Well I have a head cold again and slightly dizzy, but managed my Monday squat session. Figured I’d be happy to complete it, but skipping my post squat assistance work. Actually felt really easy and my AC joints have miraculously gone down and I can’t feel them. It reminds me of the week I had a horrible cough, but it stopped long enough to hit a deadlift pb.

SideWinder · 27 Jan 2020 at 18:14

Lost my chalk-inity today.

Been chatting with one of the guys at my gym every so often and he offered some liquid chalk to assist with my deadlift....it worked!

He is off to become a PT in a David Lloyd...apparently they have pool parties.

***The 2020 Gym Rats Thread*** ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ

The 2020 Gym Rats Thread ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ