LOL! You get used to it - it's all that test flowing through your veins 
Embrace it! 
Embrace it! *** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***
- Thread starter Freefaller
- Start date
Soldato
Hair everywhere yet going bald at 21. Fun fun
Ahh to be 21 again.....
What site are they from?
I always thought about these, as oly bar is great, but I love the rubberised grip on our pull/chin bars and machines which I think are over an inch in diameter (I think 1.5-2inches or I think even 2.5inches...quite thick.). Less focus on grip, more on the arms/chest/back.
I always thought about them things I saw on dragons den, which a girl designed for rowers to make the stick on the paddle bigger (sorry I dont know the terminology!)
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Soldato
I'm also interested where you can get these, wouldn't mind fattening up my BB and DBs.
You have to buy from:
http://www.fatgripz.com/index-bl.html
Works out as £28ish delivered. Haven't ordered mine yet but will be soon. I read somewhere they ship from within the UK in about 1-2 days.
Wierd how it can't process the total in £ despite selecting UK postage!
Edit: 2-4 days. Going to order mine now. Will feed back when they arrive and then again after a couple weeks use.
http://www.fatgripz.com/index-bl.html
Works out as £28ish delivered. Haven't ordered mine yet but will be soon. I read somewhere they ship from within the UK in about 1-2 days.
Wierd how it can't process the total in £ despite selecting UK postage!
Edit: 2-4 days. Going to order mine now. Will feed back when they arrive and then again after a couple weeks use.
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The fatgripz are great craic benny, you'll love them. They make things WAY thicker, I completely underestimated the difference even though my bro had warned me. He's using them most sessions and has noticed a massive difference - the forearm pump he gets is ridiculous looking
Yup and yup!
Fortunately my gf was elsewhere and whilst strutting around (actually hopelessly lost) I did spot some nice eye candy!! Compression top was a good choice thay day!
Fortunately my gf was elsewhere and whilst strutting around (actually hopelessly lost) I did spot some nice eye candy!! Compression top was a good choice thay day!
Kool stuff. I'll take measurements of my forearms and also try and see what I can grip Raw before I start using them, and then again about a month or two later.
OT: Has anybody tried or regulary use Zottman curls?
For those that don't know its the concentric of a regular DB curl with the eccentric of a Reverse grip BB curl. (Rotation at the top and bottom of the rep, not during).
I've never tried them and will give them a go tomorrow when I do back and some arm isolation. Although I'm not entirely convinced by removing the concentric of one exercise and eccentric of the other?
Had a bit of a different chest session to usual. I have re-assesed my short term gains between now and easter. The main one being to drop some bodyfat and the second one to gain some strength. I don't think it's realistic to try and gain mass when not on the correct diet.
I want to smash my bench PB to peices having recently set new DL and Squat PB's within the last few months. As it stands 120KG x 1 last easter.
I'd done a little 5x5 work recently and found my capacity was around 95-100KG's.
SO today went like this:
RC warm up.
Flat BB bench: Middle fingers on smooth rings.
60KG x 10
70KG x 5
80KG x 5
90KG x 2
100KG x 2
110KG x 2 (first rep not a problem, second was a little difficult)
90KG x 10 PB (never managed more than 8)
90KG x 8
90KG x 6
I then did some Incline DB Press, Flat and Incline Cable Flies, close grip push ups, assisted dips and some Tricep Press downs. A fair bit of tricep isolation, I don't normally do this much.
Negatives weren't as slow as normal within the 1-3 second range. Shorter negatives for heavier weights as I wanted to remind myself what close concentric reps felt like!
A different pump to normal. Heavy bench felt good whilst I used a lot of chest I could also feel it recruiting the front delts too. I got back and looked in the mirror and was suprised with what I saw! Actually looking a bit better with this kind of pump although I am leaning down slightly weighing in at around 13 stone 10/11 lbs at current.
In anticipation of my Fat Gripz arriving I also focused on my grip some more. I've gotten into a nasty habit of 'holding' the dumbell/barbell/cable handles as opposed to gripping them, sometimes with my fingers and thumbs extended. So today I squeezed the living **** out of them! Not only did I find it made the concentric slightly easier but also recruited more of the working muscles.
If you've gotten into the same habit as me, try giving whatever your holding some 'death grip' treatment.
Chest Pump: somewhere between 46-46.5" Tensed
Arms: Just shy of 16.5 " Tensed.
How do you guys measure your chest? Tensed? Chest out head up?
I want to smash my bench PB to peices having recently set new DL and Squat PB's within the last few months. As it stands 120KG x 1 last easter.
I'd done a little 5x5 work recently and found my capacity was around 95-100KG's.
SO today went like this:
RC warm up.
Flat BB bench: Middle fingers on smooth rings.
60KG x 10
70KG x 5
80KG x 5
90KG x 2
100KG x 2
110KG x 2 (first rep not a problem, second was a little difficult)
90KG x 10 PB (never managed more than 8)
90KG x 8
90KG x 6
I then did some Incline DB Press, Flat and Incline Cable Flies, close grip push ups, assisted dips and some Tricep Press downs. A fair bit of tricep isolation, I don't normally do this much.
Negatives weren't as slow as normal within the 1-3 second range. Shorter negatives for heavier weights as I wanted to remind myself what close concentric reps felt like!
A different pump to normal. Heavy bench felt good
whilst I used a lot of chest I could also feel it recruiting the front delts too. I got back and looked in the mirror and was suprised with what I saw! Actually looking a bit better with this kind of pump although I am leaning down slightly weighing in at around 13 stone 10/11 lbs at current.In anticipation of my Fat Gripz arriving I also focused on my grip some more. I've gotten into a nasty habit of 'holding' the dumbell/barbell/cable handles as opposed to gripping them, sometimes with my fingers and thumbs extended. So today I squeezed the living **** out of them! Not only did I find it made the concentric slightly easier but also recruited more of the working muscles.
If you've gotten into the same habit as me, try giving whatever your holding some 'death grip' treatment.
Chest Pump: somewhere between 46-46.5" Tensed
Arms: Just shy of 16.5 " Tensed.
How do you guys measure your chest? Tensed? Chest out head up?
I measure at the thickest point, and do 2 readings. One with a lungful of air, and one without - take the average. 
Well that was a terrible session.
I went American Football training yesterday which was great, but boy did I forget how much contact sports take it out of you. I was aching all over and couldn't lift for ****.
Flat bench was 20x60kg, 10x80kg, 5x102.5kg, 4x102.5kg, 5x100kg, 5x90kg, 15x70kg
Powerclean & Jerk 5x60kg, 5x60kg << no more energy after that, terrible form so gave up
Military Press 10x51.6kg, 10x51.6kg
Incline DB Bench 14x22kg, 9x28kg, 8x25kg
Very poor session compared to recent weeks lifting
The Am Foot was awesome though. Hitting people at speed, brilliant.
I went American Football training yesterday which was great, but boy did I forget how much contact sports take it out of you. I was aching all over and couldn't lift for ****.
Flat bench was 20x60kg, 10x80kg, 5x102.5kg, 4x102.5kg, 5x100kg, 5x90kg, 15x70kg
Powerclean & Jerk 5x60kg, 5x60kg << no more energy after that, terrible form so gave up
Military Press 10x51.6kg, 10x51.6kg
Incline DB Bench 14x22kg, 9x28kg, 8x25kg
Very poor session compared to recent weeks lifting
The Am Foot was awesome though. Hitting people at speed, brilliant.
Associate
Funny you mention that as i've found the same thing! Weight lands on my fingers instead of giving it that death grip. I think it's been having a detrimental effect on my training and the force isn't going through my arms correctly if the weight is simply hanging by my fingers. Fatgripz looks awesome though, might have to invest in a pair!
I'm down to 11st12 as of today which means i've lost about 7 lbs in 2 weeks from swine flu
my strength has dropped and i'm so tired lately. what a bummer! gonna have to force my body back to growth after this week and hope i'm back to where i left off in no time.Totally lost all motivation and still feeling a bit crap since I first got ill on new years. Don't know what the hell has hit me.
Planned in a big kickstart to the new year on wed/thurs with deads, squats and all the ther shebang. Only got a few months before june when I start my cutty cut cut.
Planned in a big kickstart to the new year on wed/thurs with deads, squats and all the ther shebang. Only got a few months before june when I start my cutty cut cut.
OK guys I'm after some (more) advice.
I've been on this lifestyle change thing since around the start of December, and progress is pretty slow.
My weights routine is below, 3x a week Mon/Wed/Fri. I also do 30 mins of what is pretty intense cardio for me, generally is around 11km on a bike doing 3mins @70% 2mins @ 90% (My effort scale not an incline scale
). I'm absolutely cream crackered by the end of this and my legs feel like jelly.
Weights, 3x8.
Machine Weight
Leg Press 250lbs - Up ~70lbs
Leg Extension 90lbs - Up 30lbs
Hamstring Curl 90lbs - Up 30
Chest Press 105lbs - Up 25
Lat Pulldown 135lbs - Up 40
Shoulder Press 65lbs - Up 20 i think
Bicep Curl 35lbs - This is the only weight not to of gone up since starting.
Tricep 55lbs - Up 10
Daily food looks like this.
The baguette isn't the exact one, a catering company deliver them to my work so I can't get stats on them so I picked a similiar supermarket one. Only difference is my work one is on wholemeal with salad aswell.
This is where I'm stumped. I'm guessing that the totals on that are way off? Its not much less than I'd of eaten this time last year, just different. There's no way I could fit in my 'maintenance' calorie intake without chucking up. I'm aware not eating breakfast isn't a great idea, but I haven't eaten breakfast for ~5 years so getting back into is proving difficult but I'm trying to get this sorted asap.
Progress so far.....
Starting weight (start of December) - ~128kg
Now - ~ 124kg.
OK I've had Christmas inbetween, but I actually lost a kg over Christmas (2 weeks of sitting on my arse eating junk). Its very frustrating not being able to crack my diet puzzle! My current thoughts are to get the protein up with a post workout shake and try to lower carbs by removing the pitta and the lunch kit kat. Probably replace the latter with a yoghurt.
Blargh any help guys? I really want to start hitting 2lbs a week loss.
I've been on this lifestyle change thing since around the start of December, and progress is pretty slow.
My weights routine is below, 3x a week Mon/Wed/Fri. I also do 30 mins of what is pretty intense cardio for me, generally is around 11km on a bike doing 3mins @70% 2mins @ 90% (My effort scale not an incline scale
). I'm absolutely cream crackered by the end of this and my legs feel like jelly.Weights, 3x8.
Machine Weight
Leg Press 250lbs - Up ~70lbs
Leg Extension 90lbs - Up 30lbs
Hamstring Curl 90lbs - Up 30
Chest Press 105lbs - Up 25
Lat Pulldown 135lbs - Up 40
Shoulder Press 65lbs - Up 20 i think
Bicep Curl 35lbs - This is the only weight not to of gone up since starting.
Tricep 55lbs - Up 10
Daily food looks like this.
The baguette isn't the exact one, a catering company deliver them to my work so I can't get stats on them so I picked a similiar supermarket one. Only difference is my work one is on wholemeal with salad aswell.
This is where I'm stumped. I'm guessing that the totals on that are way off? Its not much less than I'd of eaten this time last year, just different. There's no way I could fit in my 'maintenance' calorie intake without chucking up. I'm aware not eating breakfast isn't a great idea, but I haven't eaten breakfast for ~5 years so getting back into is proving difficult but I'm trying to get this sorted asap.
Progress so far.....
Starting weight (start of December) - ~128kg
Now - ~ 124kg.
OK I've had Christmas inbetween, but I actually lost a kg over Christmas (2 weeks of sitting on my arse eating junk). Its very frustrating not being able to crack my diet puzzle! My current thoughts are to get the protein up with a post workout shake and try to lower carbs by removing the pitta and the lunch kit kat. Probably replace the latter with a yoghurt.
Blargh any help guys? I really want to start hitting 2lbs a week loss.
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Soldato
If you're that heavy I think you should try eating a little more, especially in the morning try some porridge/oats, ditch the kit kat with lunch and try get more salad in.
Are you eating the same every day? Try eat more meals throughout the day and you'll get less hungry and likely to snack on rubbish.
Drinking only water (juice etc has calories in it)? If so make sure you drink a lot.
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I think your body is probably in starvation mode if that's all you're eating, is your log entirely honest? Do you eat any vegetables?
Sorry if the above sounds a bit blunt - that's not how I meant it to sound!
Unfortunately the log is entirely honest. I have a pretty fixed routine so its easy to eat the same stuff every day (weekends exempt). My guilty pleasures include probably 2 or 3 pints of lager a week (hard going to the pub with mates and not drinking at all!) and a Subway most Thursdays. Subway club on wheat.
I don't eat veggies atm, I'd rather eat more fruit but I do hear a lot of praise towards piles of green veg. Problem is I hate preparing and cooking food, so I'd have to find something dead simple otherwise I just won't do it.
Yeah will get on some cereal this week. Recommendations, unfortunately I rather dislike porridge/oats etc. so just a good wholesome cereal would be preferable, with semi skimmed milk I guess. I rarely get hungry during the day and no longer keep snacks in the house apart from Nairns Oatcakes which only get nommed on occasionally.
Eating more is certainly looking like the solution. Considering I sat on my arse at home for 2 weeks and was fed christmas dinner nearly ever day and I dropped a kilo, seems probable. My metabolism is proper fast, meals are errm 'out' within 1-2 hours generally so eating more often looks like the plan.
What good between meal snacks are there? Protein rich is a plus, trying to get closer to this '1.5g of protein every kg of weight' number that I hear thrown round a lot. I'm considering whey protein aswell to get me there, as the last 2 weeks my strength progress has plateau'd somewhat.
EDIT: And I drink tonnes
. My family and friends jest that I have hollow legs . I'll generally drink 6-7 pints of squash a day (no sugar asda stuff) along with one or two cans of pepsi max (free at work so hard to resist!).
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simple cooking for veggies:
I usually get them frozen from tesco like sprouts, cauliflower, brocolli or even the special vegetable mix which is a mix of everything.
throw everything in a pot, put some water on, heat until it starts boiling. Drain the water, eat. takes less than 2min if you boil the watter in the kettle before.
Carefull what you start with. I tryed spinach, and no matter what a great leafy green vegetable it might be it tastes hooooooorible compared to any of the ones I mentioned before. If I would have started with that, it would have definately put me off.
I usually get them frozen from tesco like sprouts, cauliflower, brocolli or even the special vegetable mix which is a mix of everything.
throw everything in a pot, put some water on, heat until it starts boiling. Drain the water, eat. takes less than 2min if you boil the watter in the kettle before.
Carefull what you start with. I tryed spinach, and no matter what a great leafy green vegetable it might be it tastes hooooooorible compared to any of the ones I mentioned before. If I would have started with that, it would have definately put me off.