For the gym rats
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Soldato
Yup
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Yeah it's standard for measurment of lift, just don't cheat! Average standard bar with collars is 12.5kg oly bars are 20 with collars
Caporegime
What about EZ bars?
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as long as they are solid, hollow bars are aound 2. My hollow ezbar snapped in half when i was curling 50kg lol
In that case then my lifts don't sound as puney as I thought they were!!
Anyone know if the bench press bars are olympic or smaller in David Lloyd gyms. All the free weight equipment is by Hammer Strength if it helps.
Been at the gym about 10 weeks now, happy with my progress as I started really light, however I'm sometimes doubting myself with the weight I'm lifting as I haven't got a spotter which sometimes puts me 'out of the zone' so I end up lifting not as much as I intend.
Soldato
Back to the gym today for me for the first time in 3 weeks ... I shall return a broken man 
Caporegime
Olympic bars are completely metal, where as the non-olympic bars have plastic ends for the weights to go on.
Olympic
Olympic
Man of Honour
They'll be a olympic then.
I was tracking my progress just using the weights I put on a barbell, should I change this to include the weight of the barbell?
If you want to compare like for like with other people then yes if not then it doesnt matter as you can still track the raise in weight
Why when you ask someone to spot you do they ALWAYS insist on touching the bar even when you don't ask for help.
I'd done 2 sets of 100kg for 5 reps and wanted to try a third set but thought I'd ask for a spot just in case. As soon as I unracked his hands were all over the bar. Had to ask him to leave it but as soon as I went onto rep 2 (and fairly comfortably) his hands were back on it!
Frustrating.
I'd done 2 sets of 100kg for 5 reps and wanted to try a third set but thought I'd ask for a spot just in case. As soon as I unracked his hands were all over the bar. Had to ask him to leave it but as soon as I went onto rep 2 (and fairly comfortably) his hands were back on it!
Frustrating.
If i'm getting a spot from someone who i don't train with regularly i make sure they know what i want. Usually i tell tell them to only touch the bar if i call "Spot"
I know a lot of less experienced lifters will get scared when they see your face turning bright red and bits of you look like they are about to burst, and think you need help when really you're getting those most beneficial reps out.
I dont touch the bar but my hands hover near it so I can grab it quickly if I need too.
When ever I have posted my lifts on here I have never included the bar I just assumed people didnt because you cant lift without it! Means my bench press and squats arent too bad then.
Bench today was around 65kg for 15 reps then and squats about 75/80 for 15 reps
Normally I would have said bench was 50 and squat 60 does make it sound better!
Im getting quite annoyed now though with the amount of time ive been trying I should be in much better shape then I am no where near what I want to be
When ever I have posted my lifts on here I have never included the bar
I just assumed people didnt because you cant lift without it! Means my bench press and squats arent too bad then.Bench today was around 65kg for 15 reps then and squats about 75/80 for 15 reps
Normally I would have said bench was 50 and squat 60 does make it sound better!
Im getting quite annoyed now though with the amount of time ive been trying I should be in much better shape then I am no where near what I want to be
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This is a great philosophy for beginners but i think most more experienced lifters will agree that, complete catastrophe's aside, spotting is unlikely to be a 'sudden' thing. When your benching over 100kg's the big question is getting it off the chest. If that doesnt happen its gonna take a few weeks to crush you to death, more than enough time to call 'spot' any other failure points in the rep will just result in a fairly steady decent to the chest. Anything else/worse could only occur as a result of poor form imo (apart from competition level lifting perhaps).
I've been thinking about joining a gym for a while now, and one of the things that I'd be nervous about is not knowing anything about spotting or not having a spotter - most of my friends would never bother to join a gym so I wouldn't really have a training partner and so I wouldn't really know how to spot or have someone spot for me.
Is it just a matter of if you're about to get crushed because your arms die then you say `spot' and your spotter grabs the bar to give you a hand? what about things like squats where you might drop the whole thing on your leg or something?
I imagine if I did join the gym, I'd have to start out on the machines anyway to build up some strength first because I doubt I could bench/squat much more than the weight of an oly bar anyway.
Is it just a matter of if you're about to get crushed because your arms die then you say `spot' and your spotter grabs the bar to give you a hand? what about things like squats where you might drop the whole thing on your leg or something?
I imagine if I did join the gym, I'd have to start out on the machines anyway to build up some strength first because I doubt I could bench/squat much more than the weight of an oly bar anyway.
Caporegime
Don't start on machines, just use light weights. There's no shame what so ever in using light weights. Every body starts light, and anyone laughing at beginners will show themselves up rather than the person they laugh at. The more experienced body builders all start with as little weight as possible to get warmed up, for an example usually just the bar alone on the bench, and each set work their way up to just about as heavy as they can take it. Somedays they can go heavier than others.. just look at some of the gym reports in this thread, compared to others of the same user.. there are some that make them look like a machines, and others just mere mortals!
Usually if I need a spot and I don't see any of the regulars in my Gym I either ask the assistant, or I'll offer to spot someone else and generally the favour is returned after.
As for form, you'll quickly learn to listen to what your body is telling you. Namely if it feels like it is going to cause pain (real pain, not 'the burn',) it probably will and you are probably doing something wrong.
Youtube is also your friend for finding instructional videos, there are millions of them. Watch a load for the type of exercises you want to try out and then watch yourself in the mirrors when you get to the gym, or better yet ask a friend/other person/assistant. If you're ever unsure try it with just the bar alone to get a feel for it.
Usually if I need a spot and I don't see any of the regulars in my Gym I either ask the assistant, or I'll offer to spot someone else and generally the favour is returned after.
As for form, you'll quickly learn to listen to what your body is telling you. Namely if it feels like it is going to cause pain (real pain, not 'the burn',) it probably will and you are probably doing something wrong.
Youtube is also your friend for finding instructional videos, there are millions of them. Watch a load for the type of exercises you want to try out and then watch yourself in the mirrors when you get to the gym, or better yet ask a friend/other person/assistant. If you're ever unsure try it with just the bar alone to get a feel for it.
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