The 2020 Gym Rats Thread ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ

ShortWarning · 21 Mar 2020 at 10:46

No idea what I'm going to do. Press ups aggravate an elbow injury. Nowhere I can put a pull up bar. Just going to get skinny fat until this all blows over I guess.

CaptainRAVE · 21 Mar 2020 at 11:01

ShortWarning said:
No idea what I'm going to do. Press ups aggravate an elbow injury. Nowhere I can put a pull up bar. Just going to get skinny fat until this all blows over I guess.

I'm slowly just accepting it. Very tempted to order at least a bench and barbell that I could use for other movements. Who knows how long it'll all be closed!

Jimbo Mahoney · 21 Mar 2020 at 13:21

This is what I sorted this morning.

Expecting 12 weeks of no gyms...

7 x 15 kg sandbags.

2 x holdalls

1 x PullUpMate

Should be able to do squats, deadlift, weighted pullups and some sort of weighted pushup /dips.

I've been training / cutting weight for a local deadlift comp in May, so that sucks.

But, it'll be fun learning new ways to lift heavy stuff!

Jimbo Mahoney · 21 Mar 2020 at 17:17

OK, so today's bench day, so I'm doing weighted pressups (with crappy handles, but at least they help the wrists and also RoM).

If it makes any difference, I'm currently 58kg BW (been cutting to get into 59kg class for powerlifting).

2 x 8 reps with 30kg in backpack.
1 x 7 reps with 30 kg
1 x 14 reps with 15kg

Feels pretty good! (Sure, I miss dubbells, but this is WAY better than nothing!)

Going to see what I can do for shoulders now...

EDIT - OK, so 15kg sandbag standing OH press works pretty well!

Somnambulist · 21 Mar 2020 at 17:21

ShortWarning said:
No idea what I'm going to do. Press ups aggravate an elbow injury. Nowhere I can put a pull up bar. Just going to get skinny fat until this all blows over I guess.

600mg of Test E p/week - scientifically proven to add more lean mass over 12 weeks whilst doing nothing than a natty training consistently.

Somnambulist · 21 Mar 2020 at 17:38

I’d also like to note:
1) it takes a couple of weeks of no stimulus before you start to lose strength
2) as long as you’re eating enough you’re unlikely to lose much muscle in 1-3 months
3) even if you lose strength and size, muscle memory is real and although you won’t rebound instantly, it’ll come back a lot quicker than it took to get to there in the first place
4) you get to relive noob gains mode all over again (and noob DOMS, unfortunately)

Jimbo Mahoney · 21 Mar 2020 at 18:32

Somnambulist said:
1) it takes a couple of weeks of no stimulus before you start to lose strength

Although sadly, the stronger you are relative to your max potential, the faster you'll lose it.

I'm ~58kg and my PBs are:

Squat = 144 kg
Bench = 105 kg
Deadlift = 180 kg

When I took three weeks off for my honeymoon, I lost about 30% of my 1rm.

But, yes, it does return quickly and is "kinda" fun making "fake" progress again!

cu3ed · 21 Mar 2020 at 18:38

Was looking about to see if I could get some simple weight setup at home. Apart from being rather expensive, all the sites are posting about high demand, I imagine most peeps in the EU are doing the same. Anyone know of any good sites?

ShortWarning · 21 Mar 2020 at 19:31

Somnambulist said:
I’d also like to note:
1) it takes a couple of weeks of no stimulus before you start to lose strength
2) as long as you’re eating enough you’re unlikely to lose much muscle in 1-3 months
3) even if you lose strength and size, muscle memory is real and although you won’t rebound instantly, it’ll come back a lot quicker than it took to get to there in the first place
4) you get to relive noob gains mode all over again (and noob DOMS, unfortunately)

I hear ya. However I think the gyms will be shut for a lot longer than 3 months.

It’ll probably make sense to start back with sl 5x5 by the time they reopen.

Somnambulist · 21 Mar 2020 at 20:52

ShortWarning said:
I hear ya. However I think the gyms will be shut for a lot longer than 3 months.

It’ll probably make sense to start back with sl 5x5 by the time they reopen.

Some spit and sawdust gyms are already taking back-handers or letting people train hush-hush - in the case of my gym the elite guys have keys and will train in there privately: all about who you know obviously.

If I’m still having to do bodyweight stuff after a couple of months I’ll see what the crack is with people renting out their garage gyms locally (this is a thing I’ve seen already).

CaptainRAVE · 21 Mar 2020 at 21:05

Somnambulist said:
Some spit and sawdust gyms are already taking back-handers or letting people train hush-hush - in the case of my gym the elite guys have keys and will train in there privately: all about who you know obviously.

If I’m still having to do bodyweight stuff after a couple of months I’ll see what the crack is with people renting out their garage gyms locally (this is a thing I’ve seen already).

I figure the same will happen in mine, the PTs and their mates will still train or they’ll go to the farm where they train sometimes.

cu3ed · 21 Mar 2020 at 22:02

So checked a few places looking for a bunch of free weight stuff, cheap bench etc. Everything is sold out across the board. Madness.

CaptainRAVE · 21 Mar 2020 at 22:03

cu3ed said:
So checked a few places looking for a bunch of free weight stuff, cheap bench etc. Everything is sold out across the board. Madness.

There were a few left Friday evening in various places, all gone now!

Kris_90 · 22 Mar 2020 at 14:55

Assuming this is going to last 3 months or so, I'm tempted to cut more agressively than normal so I'm in a position to lean bulk when gyms open again. I know I'm going to lose muscle regardless so I think I may use this as an opportunity to cut as much fat as possible although obviously making sure I eat suffient protein and as much muscle stimulus as possible.

I think I'll concentrate on my running (got a treadmill) - I feel a strong pair of lungs are more important atm

mrthingyx · 23 Mar 2020 at 07:45

Ahhh... the benefits of a home weightlifting gym!

Shame my knee is still borked.

Somnambulist · 23 Mar 2020 at 11:12

Kris_90 said:
Assuming this is going to last 3 months or so, I'm tempted to cut more agressively than normal so I'm in a position to lean bulk when gyms open again. I know I'm going to lose muscle regardless so I think I may use this as an opportunity to cut as much fat as possible although obviously making sure I eat suffient protein and as much muscle stimulus as possible.

I think I'll concentrate on my running (got a treadmill) - I feel a strong pair of lungs are more important atm

I'd argue you're more likely to lose lean mass aggressively dieting without a sufficient training stimulus than you are just trying to maintain your current weight, although it depends on where your physique is at currently. Also one of the effects of being in a prolonged hypocaloric state is a compromised/weakened immune system, which obviously isn't a good thing currently, although I suppose it depends on your level of isolation.

Additionally, I think there's an element of hyperbole when it comes to gym rats thinking just because they don't have access to a gym their muscles are going to fall off. Yes you'll lose some specific strength if you've spent a long time becoming hyper-efficient at certain big lifts, but ultimately something like your tricep doesn't know the difference between barbell bench and doing dips between two chairs - it only knows tension demands are being placed upon it. Let's take pull-ups - how many people here can do 20 reps (for multiple sets) strict - as in no swinging/heaving - and with a full range of motion from the hang all the way to touching the sternum to the bar? Sprinkle in some inverted rows or resistance band rows and something you can curl or reverse fly and that'll keep your back busy for a good while...

Yes it's a bit harder for legs and requires some creativity there, but there's no reason why 95% of people with the bare minimum of kit at home can't maintain or even make some progress as long as there's some consistency with programming. The biggest impediment for most people atm is going to be willpower, because it's a lot harder to train at home consistently with all the distractions available compared to a gym.

ShortWarning · 23 Mar 2020 at 13:16

Can anyone recommend a pull up bar I can fit between 2 walls without drilling (so that I can move it up and down). My doorways really aren't suitable for those latch on bars.

GiraffePencils · 23 Mar 2020 at 16:52

ShortWarning said:
Can anyone recommend a pull up bar I can fit between 2 walls without drilling (so that I can move it up and down). My doorways really aren't suitable for those latch on bars.

pull up mate's pretty good for those situations, and you can take it with you

Jimbo Mahoney · 23 Mar 2020 at 17:03

OK, deadlifting with a holdall sucks.

Because it's so wide / so far in front of you, you can't get the leverage.

I'm having to just do reps with 30kg, although it feels like 70kg because of the weird angles!

EDIT - OK, just back from a set of 20x, so I guess it feels more like 50 - 60kg?

I've also raised myself up to get a bigger RoM, which also makes it much harder.

(I usually rep 160kg for 6 or 140kg for 6 with a 2" deficit).

Hopefully just doing as many as I can with this 30kg holdall will stave off the losses...

ShortWarning · 23 Mar 2020 at 17:31

GiraffePencils said:
pull up mate's pretty good for those situations, and you can take it with you

Thanks for the suggestion. I don’t have room for one of those in my tiny flat though.

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

The 2020 Gym Rats Thread ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ