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

[Musty Pie]

Thanks @Musty Pie for the spreadsheet. The app I was going to use was way off!

I've basically dropped my 5rm by 10% and entered them in. I've entered in KG, is that okay?

I'm doing 1 extra stronglifts session on Saturday (my friend wants to go to the gym) then I'll start madcow on Monday.

Best of luck,

Start a log in the training section, be good to see how you get on.

 

[ShortWarning]

Best of luck,

Start a log in the training section, be good to see how you get on.

Thanks. Bit nervous to post a log in case I stall really early. Haha.

Quick question. Am I right in thinking there's no A/B day with Madcow? So you'll always be benching twice a week and pressing once a week?

 

[dirtychinchilla]

I heard somewhere, and I think it was the Barbell Logic podcast, that the old belief that training young caused damage had been proven untrue. That's pretty anecdotal, but there must be some studies that can give you that information. I wished I'd started as a teenager instead of sitting at my computer *******.

 

[Musty Pie]

I heard somewhere, and I think it was the Barbell Logic podcast, that the old belief that training young caused damage had been proven untrue. That's pretty anecdotal, but there must be some studies that can give you that information. I wished I'd started as a teenager instead of sitting at my computer *******.

It would be interesting to find out what kind of effects it does have. That said I agree with you, maybe not my teens as such but early to mid 20s for sure.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Well that was a dire session.

 

[Somnambulist]

How long has he been lifting at that age?

On that note, what is perceived wisdom re when kids can start to weight train? My son is 11.5 and has asked.

Not sure, he's been at it a year or two I think:
https://www.instagram.com/harrycassiestrongman/

Also train with these two sometimes (both teenagers):
https://www.instagram.com/_theogoff/
https://www.instagram.com/james.brennan_pl/

Kids can start training whenever - obviously when they're developing still, the focus should be on establishing solid technique and general physical development rather than anything too specific, but I've seen 11-12 year-old kids squatting crazy weights for their size, and nobody in professional sport gets to elite level without starting young, even if they chop and change sports before landing on the one they excel at.

 

[Avenged7Fold]

Hi dudes, just thought I'd check in as it's been a while since I've posted (daily lurker though!)

Coming towards the end of my first bulk now. It's been a semi lean one, going from 66ish kg to 72kg from October. A lot of fumbling with calorie numbers at first. Strength up across the board with probably my best improvements on dumbell press which went from 32 to 45 for five deep reps.

Big focus on areas I was lacking in when I cut down last summer: upper pecs, and hamstrings. I feel that I've made some considerable progress on these areas especially and that itll show once the fat is gone. I'll post the chunky pics at the end of the month. I'm looking pretty soft and a lot of definition has gone but it seems like a good trade off for muscle.

Learnt loads from the bulk and I feel i will attack it better next time.

 

[reiyushin]

Learnt loads from the bulk and I feel i will attack it better next time.

A key component.

In unrelated news, my adductor cramped so hard it felt like it was tear itself in two. Seems to be okay after 4 days of rest so should be back in action tomorrow

 

[ShortWarning]

1st day of Madcows for me today. I have full blown man flu but as the program starts light I'm still going to go to the gym. If I was still on stronglifts I'd be tempted to skip. I'm think I'm going to post it up in the training logs section. Hopefully I won't stall early.

What's the deal with failures in madcows?

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Can’t help but laugh at this guy ‘training’ this girl. Forms good he says. Meanwhile the worst butt wink you’ve ever seen destroying her spine. Everyone seem to be a gym expert these days. I should become a chiropractor in 10-20 years time to make a fortune off the insta generation.

 

[Musty Pie]

1st day of Madcows for me today. I have full blown man flu but as the program starts light I'm still going to go to the gym. If I was still on stronglifts I'd be tempted to skip. I'm think I'm going to post it up in the training logs section. Hopefully I won't stall early.

What's the deal with failures in madcows?

Im not sure if im qualified enough to answer here but in my mind I would assume that if you miss reps on a week or specific lift you can repeat this on the next lift day or week to see if you can overcome it.

If you stall or fail on this for 3x attempts I would be tempted to start the program again under your new 5RM and go again.

The program builds you up to your max reps at weight at week 4 so you should be fine for at least a month + before failing. Its a program you cycle when you no longer progress so effectively if you fail many weeks in a row, put your new 5RM into the sheet and start again at week 1.

If you fail it will be most likely related to sickness, lack of good sleep or food, or incorrect 5RM weights put into the spreadsheet at the start.

 

[ShortWarning]

Im not sure if im qualified enough to answer here but in my mind I would assume that if you miss reps on a week or specific lift you can repeat this on the next lift day or week to see if you can overcome it.

If you stall or fail on this for 3x attempts I would be tempted to start the program again under your new 5RM and go again.

The program builds you up to your max reps at weight at week 4 so you should be fine for at least a month + before failing. Its a program you cycle when you no longer progress so effectively if you fail many weeks in a row, put your new 5RM into the sheet and start again at week 1.

If you fail it will be most likely related to sickness, lack of good sleep or food, or incorrect 5RM weights put into the spreadsheet at the start.

Thanks a lot for the info. This makes sense. I lowered my 5rms a little for the spreadsheet anyway. It puts me back to my current 5rms on weeks 5 and 6.

 

[Musty Pie]

Thanks a lot for the info. This makes sense. I lowered my 5rms a little for the spreadsheet anyway. It puts me back to my current 5rms on weeks 5 and 6.

Sold yourself "short" I see....



I'll get my coat.

 

[reiyushin]

Can’t help but laugh at this guy ‘training’ this girl. Forms good he says. Meanwhile the worst butt wink you’ve ever seen destroying her spine. Everyone seem to be a gym expert these days. I should become a chiropractor in 10-20 years time to make a fortune off the insta generation.

The fitness industry is a disaster, I'm a qualified PT and the information you needed to pass was a total joke and that was 10+ years ago.

Nowadays you can do PT course online without having to ever set foot in a gym.

 

[ShortWarning]

Sold yourself "short" I see....



I'll get my coat.

I see what you did there.

The fitness industry is a disaster, I'm a qualified PT and the information you needed to pass was a total joke and that was 10+ years ago.

Nowadays you can do PT course online without having to ever set foot in a gym.

Most of the personal trainers at "The Gym" where I go don't seem to care about their clients form or range of motion at all and are normally glued to their phones while they are doing their sets.

I know there needs to be a middle ground between being militant about form and allowing their client to have fun but injury is also no fun.

 

[Skidder]

If you fail it will be most likely related to sickness, lack of good sleep or food, or incorrect 5RM weights put into the spreadsheet at the start.

Yeah, you should probably be getting to week 6 or 7 if your 5rm is right, ie pushing beyond a little. Not likely to get to end of the cycle without failure in my experience.

 

[neviditelny]

The fitness industry is a disaster, I'm a qualified PT and the information you needed to pass was a total joke and that was 10+ years ago.

Nowadays you can do PT course online without having to ever set foot in a gym.

I got a couple of friends who have done degrees in Sports Science (one even have a Master) but even with the exercise physiology they get in their education they are apparantly not allowed to be called PT's....

 

[icecold]

How long has he been lifting at that age?

On that note, what is perceived wisdom re when kids can start to weight train? My son is 11.5 and has asked.

A quick drive-by to answer this.

The stunting of growth and hormone interference that people seem to worry about with strength training is not backed up by any mechanistic or epidemiological literature.

HOWEVER

There is a big problem when parents hyper-specialise their children into an extremely limited movement pallet by getting them into powerlifting. Humans need to be exposed to a broad range of movement stimulus to be healthy, and particularly as children we should be playing and experimenting with a wide variety of stimuli.

In general, parents should not worry about about the use of weights in strength training. The body is also a weight, and sprinting and bouldering/climbing are extremely low risk. Exercise selection is important though. It's a complicated topic*, but effectively I'd advise that bilateral barbell movements comprise a relatively small percentage of weekly volume.

*Think of it this way: do you really know the movement prerequisites for a low bar squat? There are good reasons that the top end of S&C doesn't rely on highly constrained movements. Even as a powerlifter, if you aren't including movement variability into your programming you're a ticking time-bomb of movement deficiencies.

 

[Rids]

Knowledgable gym friends, I have a strange issue. More and more recently I've been getting tricep cramp after push ups. No issues when benching, but I bust out a few push ups I get cramp on both sides. Can happen at the end of a workout, but today I've been unable to go the gym so I thought I'd do a few sets of push ups just so I've done "something" - first set fine, second set felt fine, stood up, was doing some shoulder dislocates and bang both triceps tighten up painfully.

Google hasn't been particularly helpful, anybody else experience this?

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Having been ill for days and feeling mostly recovered I thought I'd try my Wednesday shoulder day. Nope. Last time, 6x3 at 77.5kg OHP. This time I couldn't manage more than 2

I increased my shoulder hammer press 1 rep max to 145kg, but even that felt weak given the lack of OHP beforehand!

Onwards...