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

[SideWinder]

Went back to the gym today after 3 days off.....that is the longest time away since mid-July.

Did a bit of everything to "wake myself up".

I was walking around with a Pret coffee also.

 

[Somnambulist]

Lovely squat and deadlifts... Looked within his limits, too! Well done!

He’s like a RL Captain America. God-tier genes but he’s also been training for 10-11 years (he’s 24-25 IIRC) as well so has that blend of having the right parents and strong training ethic. Now trains at another gym from me though because it’s cheaper and has an IPF spec competition bench, so I won’t get to hear the whole building reverberate when he’s pulling 300kg+... but at least more 20kg plates will be available to use!

 

[Freefaller]

ha!

Really beautiful lifting. Neat. Tidy. Powerful. Controlled. He's got more in the tank for sure.

 

[bettz]

@reiyushin has great plans

Interested in this as I'm bored with stronglifts, switched to a programme called ice cream been doing that for 3 months same as stronglifts but more accessory work have upped bench to 8 reps as well.

Painted one side today happy with how they look.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

They’ve come up well.

 

[neoboy]

I'm really in two minds whether to come back to the gym at the moment, not a germophobe but seems like exactly the kind of place where you would get it from with all the sweating, heavy breathing and equipment touching. That and someone in my "support bubble" household has mild asthma.

 

[SideWinder]

I'm really in two minds whether to come back to the gym at the moment, not a germophobe but seems like exactly the kind of place where you would get it from with all the sweating, heavy breathing and equipment touching. That and someone in my "support bubble" household has mild asthma.

It is a very different place now with booking slots, cleaning sprays etc everywhere. It is FAR safer than a supermarket, pub etc.

 

[neoboy]

It is a very different place now with booking slots, cleaning sprays etc everywhere. It is FAR safer than a supermarket, pub etc.

Used to go to Pure Gym and that was always a bomb site but maybe give them a go for a month since it's free to join at the moment.

Finally managed to lose some weight and started running 5 months ago but really feel like I need to start adding resistance training back into my regime. I don't even know want to know what my numbers are now on the 5x5

 

[Somnambulist]

Having a deload week this week, I should start tracking the weeks and schedule them in because I tend to go by feel and usually end up wrecked when I’d do better with more frequent ones that pre-empt fatigue.

Gym has just replaced most of the barbells now and we only have a lot of Texas power bars and a few of their squat and deadlift bars. This is good stuff, nothing like fresh knurling, but I will now be even more upset when I see people bending them by slamming rack pulls down on the pins.

I kind of wish they had signs explaining the bars as well as I’ve seen loads of people squat with the deadlift bars and wonder why they get thrown about by the whip, and use the squat bar and wonder why their normal weights feel heavy (it’s a 25kg bar as it’s longer and fatter).

This will also put off all the weightlifters from training as they don’t spin like the Jordan Olympic bars that were for the platforms/racks.

 

[reiyushin]

My buddy Mike pulled 370kg in a proper sanctioned meet in the <105kg’s (weighed in at 99.2kg just to make it even more silly) yesterday for a British record. Scroll to the 9th clip for the big pull. Took it ‘easy’ with squats then matched his competition pull to his training one as there was quite a difference due to some 3rd attempt misses from losing his grip. Reckon he’ll pull 400kg+ at some point, madness.

Note the #hookgripmasterrace in action.

Huge pull! I'm jealous

 

[reiyushin]

Interested in this as I'm bored with stronglifts, switched to a programme called ice cream been doing that for 3 months same as stronglifts but more accessory work have upped bench to 8 reps as well.

They're in my signature

 

[Skidder]

[/spoiler]

Reiyushin (or anyone of course), I think I am going to give this programme a whirl but may need to modify a bit. I have been making slow progress on my OHP and want to continue that and determined to add at least another 10 KG to it (currently 56-57 on 86kg body weight). Where would you put that in here? I have a kneee injury that I agrevate squatting, may be switch out one of the squats? I know they are great but stronglifts and madcow saw my knees complaining.

Also I have home gym with no machines (barbell, rack, dumbells, chin up bar, slighly naff pull down landmine and bench (and heavy bag and coss trainer)) - do you have any suggestions for replacements for the machine excercises?

Also cheeky one but any chance of the original excel so I don't have to type? Cheers

 

[reiyushin]

Manage your knee injury however you have planned, I'd probably swap out day 4s bench for OHP if I were you.

Leg press and leg extension can be happily swapped out for front squat or platz squat. Ab/adductor can be done with a band

Also if stronglifts saw you aggrivate your knee it's very likely a form issue (or an unfortunate underlying issue) but the SL progression is so mild that it's not likely to cause problems without a form problem.

 

[reiyushin]

and send me a trust message for the excel file, it's on my home computer so I can send it over later.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I used to bench twice a week, but after my shoulder injury I switched to once a week while throwing a shoulder day into the other one. It worked wonders, both for my shoulder and for my bench.

 

[Skidder]

Manage your knee injury however you have planned, I'd probably swap out day 4s bench for OHP if I were you.

Leg press and leg extension can be happily swapped out for front squat or platz squat. Ab/adductor can be done with a band

Also if stronglifts saw you aggrivate your knee it's very likely a form issue (or an unfortunate underlying issue) but the SL progression is so mild that it's not likely to cause problems without a form problem.

Thanks very much. I am planning to have my knee looked at. It mostly flares sat at my desk but did react badly as my squats got heavier (above about 130-140) on madcow. I agree probably some form issue to look at but I think as well a lot of abuse over the years road running and snowboarding. I'm mid 40s and not been kind to them.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[SideWinder]

NUTRITION..anyone like to share a food diary for the day and what macros you are hitting?

Interested in hearing from you veterans!

I am at a cal def so taking in 1500 a day aiming for inbetween 120-140g of protein. Generally i have a protein shake and 2x meals of chicken with veg so whether its wraps, fajitas esque etc.

Looking to finish my cut soon but want to push it a bit more.

 

[B&W]

I started logging my food intake in Samsung Health.

Not a veteran tho..

Am trying to hit calorie deficit so aiming for 2700 to 2800 calories per day. 200-220 grams protein.

Around 5 meals total. Breakfast 3 scrambled eggs, 2 toast. Mushroom, spinach and tomatoes fried. Protein shake.

Lunch. Protein shake. Baguette or peanut butter with sandwich thin.

Snack: protein shake and protein bar.

Dinner: varies. Today 180g beef steak with peppercorn sauce

Night: cottage cheese, cashews nuts. Sometimes skyr yogurt or peanut butter.

 

[Somnambulist]

150-160g protein, 300g-ish carb and 60-65g fat, roughly estimated. Maintaining and letting body recomp/return to normal after lack of proper training during lockdown. Once my lifts are back where they should be in a few weeks I’ll diet for 4-6 weeks on pretty sizeable deficit, then I’ll sit at an estimated new maintenance for a couple of weeks, then start a slow bulk again.

Food is usually two proper meals (i.e. whole foods, nutritious, salad w/one, veggies w/the other) for lunch and dinner and there’s a mid-afternoon protein + carbs thing before the gym usually, and something like proats before bed. When I cut I usually keep protein the same but slash carbs right down and some fat, although it’s not a ‘low carb’ approach, just a lot less of them.

EDIT - for the protein take into account I include everything, not just the high-quality sources like meat/dairy (although every meal has 20g protein minimum from those), so today for instance it’s something like *does maths in head quickly* 120g-ish from primary protein sources and 30g or so from secondary sources that are more often than not primary carb sources too.

 

[Freefaller]

I haven't tracked macros or calories in years. I think I'm so used to knowing what I need to eat that I don't seem to really need to micromanage it. However that said if you are dieting or after a specific goal then of course it's critical.

I'm not regimented anymore with my diet, as generally I don't have poor foods in the fridge, and have always enjoyed a varied and healthy diet.

Lots of oily fish, and good fats, lots of grains and pulses, good broad range of proteins (no dairy though - dairy is really not good for you - I would urge people to stop drinking / eating high levels of dairy, if anything for your gut health). Tremendous amount of veg and fibrous foods. Seeds and a mixture of simple and complex carbs.

I was just thinking about what I've eaten this week and I think my calories come to around 3.2k calories per day, split around 160-200g of protein, 250-300+g of carbs, and around 150g of healthy fats. Though some days I'm way over 3.5k - especially on recovery days I tend to eat non stop.

I have 4 meals a day on average - some days 3 in which case I do a bit of grazing.

I'm only 94kg at the moment so eating such small amounts of food is easy.