OCUK Body Builders: Post your Pics!

sarutobi · 24 Jun 2008 at 16:52

been hittin the gym for awhile now, trying to stick to a decent 5x5 workout and it seems to be working quite well for me.

anyway, i had been holding out doing squats for a while (i had just been doing mostly isolation exercises). I tried doing some today but i was in absolute agony:

you see my shoulders are'nt very big so the bones in them stick out, meaning when im doing squats the bar really digs into them and it makes squats far too uncomfortable to execute properly.

could i be holding the bar wrong, or should i focus on improving my shoulders then move onto squats?

Makunouchi · 24 Jun 2008 at 16:58

I have the same problem with boney shoulders, its getting better but i still use a towel :S

sunama · 24 Jun 2008 at 17:13

For this problem, there is available a cushion that attaches to the barbell and provides comfort while doing squats.

I also have this problem as my vertebrae stick out at the back of neck. Without the cushion I end up with a nasty bruise a day after the workout.

Volcs · 24 Jun 2008 at 17:14

I have to use a manta when squatting due to an old injury preventing me putting too much pressure on my traps - best £35 I ever spent.

Makunouchi · 24 Jun 2008 at 17:30

Got a link to this ingenious piece of kit?

Killa_ken · 24 Jun 2008 at 17:33

Makunouchi said:
Got a link to this ingenious piece of kit?

In my gym we call this the "pussy pad".

You dont need the pad, it is a big hinderance. I used to have the same problem with the bar hurting the bone at the top of my neck. I sucked it up and eventually learned that i was placing the bar far too high.

DO NOT USE THE PUSSY PAD.

Clipsey · 24 Jun 2008 at 17:40

Killa_ken said:
DO NOT USE THE PUSSY PAD.

Quoted for pure truth!!

Mansize_tissue · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:03

mp3kla said:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11675890&postcount=2

Cheers!

sunama · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:09

Killa_ken said:
DO NOT USE THE PUSSY PAD.

Apart from trying to look hard, what valid reason is there for not using it?

Volcs · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:13

Anticipated these replies

My options are use this, destroy my shoulder entirely, or don't squat so I chose option 1.

http://www.gymratz.co.uk/weight-training-gym-equipment/item179.htm

Ultra_Extreme · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:18

sunama said:
Apart from trying to look hard, what valid reason is there for not using it?

imo, and anecdotally from what ive heard, you can aid growth of your trapezius as you contract it against the weight.

But more importantly, to try to add a touch of eloquence to Ken's yelling. Weight training is painful, to diminish the pain, to submit and sulk and look for the comfort where there is none, goes against the mantra of self improvment. No pain no gain is too simple but if you look for comfort from the bar then you will look for 'comfort' in your diet, 'comfort' in your other lifts. To be comfortable is to be unchallenged, to be unchallenged is to stagnate. In short your aversion to discomfort will ultimatley hinder your goals, Arnie always said 70% of a lift is in your mind, if your scared of the bar then the weight has already won.

Or as Ken would probably say "Pussy's never got BIG!"

Clipsey · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:20

lol Ultra you summed that up all too well!!

Nailed Ken to a tee too!

Killa_ken · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:25

Not only this but the pussy pad makes things harder, its harder to balance a bar on your shoulder as it is without adding a soft piece of material which you have no control over into the equation.

There is a reason you don't see anyone who squats over 250lbs using the pussy pad.

sarutobi · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:40

yeh but we're not into weight lifting to make our bones more resistant to rubbing against heavy weights, we want our muscles to hurt not to bruise our bones.

im not really interested in a pussy pad myself, am i maybe holding the bar wrong?

sunama · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:46

Ultra_Extreme said:
imo, and anecdotally from what ive heard, you can aid growth of your trapezius as you contract it against the weight.

I do shoulder shrugs for my trapezius. My traps a very sore after doing shrugs. However, when I do squats with no pussy pad, there is no soreness in the traps, only the skin and bone that rubs against the bar. This does not help build muscle at all.

Ultra_Extreme said:
Weight training is painful, to diminish the pain, to submit and sulk and look for the comfort where there is none, goes against the mantra of self improvment. No pain no gain is too simple but if you look for comfort from the bar then you will look for 'comfort' in your diet, 'comfort' in your other lifts. To be comfortable is to be unchallenged, to be unchallenged is to stagnate. In short your aversion to discomfort will ultimatley hinder your goals, Arnie always said 70% of a lift is in your mind, if your scared of the bar then the weight has already won.

Weight training is painful. I agree. However, to put yourself through pain when it does not aid in anyway at all, to muscle growth/development is perverse. It is basically a case of trying to be "hard". Nothing more. Note that the hardest men arent necessarily the strongest in the gym. Some people are happy to get into brawls and have scars on their faces, shaved heads, etc - ugly as sin, you know the type. Others prefer to treat their bodies as temples and therefore dont particularly want bruises, or similar. Of course, if it aids development, then thats fine, but if all you are trying to do is be "hard", then forget it.

Killa_ken said:
...the pussy pad makes things harder, its harder to balance a bar on your shoulder as it is without adding a soft piece of material which you have no control over into the equation.

OK. Now that IS a valid reason and doesnt go into, "Look at me, I'm hard, Ive got bruises on my neck".

megatron · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:48

Killa_ken said:
learned that i was placing the bar far too high.

I would agree here, it shouldnt be on your neck but below and behind it slightly. I just put it at a place i find comfortable and dont try to lower it more which apparently is better.

Ultra_Extreme · 24 Jun 2008 at 18:58

sunama said:
I do shoulder shrugs for my trapezius. My traps a very sore after doing shrugs. However, when I do squats with no pussy pad, there is no soreness in the traps, only the skin and bone that rubs against the bar. This does not help build muscle at all.

Weight training is painful. I agree. However, to put yourself through pain when it does not aid in anyway at all, to muscle growth/development is perverse. It is basically a case of trying to be "hard". Nothing more. Note that the hardest men arent necessarily the strongest in the gym. Some people are happy to get into brawls and have scars on their faces, shaved heads, etc - ugly as sin, you know the type. Others prefer to treat their bodies as temples and therefore dont particularly want bruises, or similar. Of course, if it aids development, then thats fine, but if all you are trying to do is be "hard", then forget it.

OK. Now that IS a valid reason and doesnt go into, "Look at me, I'm hard, Ive got bruises on my neck".

Fair points but firstly, it should only be "skin on bone" if your either doing it wrong or under sized (theres a lot of muscle up there).

Secondly my point was not about 'being hard' but about conditioning your mind to cope with discomfort and not shy away. Any weakness, physical or mental will hinder your progress. Convinceing yourself that you cant squat without a pussy pad because you have some kind of special bone protrusion or something that others dont have is no different to all the fat weak morons out there who say they are fat because of their thyroids. They are fat because they eat pies, the bar hurts because your doing it wrong or you need to build your upper back.

sunama · 24 Jun 2008 at 19:05

Ultra_Extreme said:
the bar hurts because your doing it wrong or you need to build your upper back.

It is possible that I'm placing the bar too high...I will experiment.

Killa_ken · 24 Jun 2008 at 19:10

sunama said:
It is possible that I'm placing the bar too high...I will experiment.

Not possible, It IS the reason. The bar should be nowhere near as high as that bone.

Styles · 24 Jun 2008 at 19:48

Don't use the pads. Don't use anything. Just the bar.

If you add anything else to formula you greatly increase the chances of the bar slipping off your back and moving the wrong way. I see people using pipe insulation sometimes and it makes me cringe. All it takes in one slip of the pad.