*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

MoNkeE said:
Amen brother :p Thought I was alright this morning 'til I tried getting out of my car - low car's are a tad awkward at the best of time, mega DOMs!

Couple of questions:
THE FIRST! Someone mentioned a decent iPhone application a few weeks ago for tracking fitness/improvements etc (think it may have been a discussion between Morba and Freefaller), what was the name of it? I write all mine down in the Notes section at the moment and nearly deleted it all once already!

THE SECOND! I always start my training days with 4 scrambled eggs, and obviously eat lots of protein during the day. However on my rest days or cardio days, I normally start with 4 wheatabix, or as I'm out of them today, a bowl of alpen. Should I still be eating protein heavy breakfasts if I'm not lifting that morning?

THE THIRD! Nah I'm only joking, that's all ;)
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it was me and freefaller and the app was ifitness

its the number 1 app on istore in health and fitness i think.
 
Morba said:
I wrap mine and puts hand over, making the bar thicker :)
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Never thought of that!

Trying to think logically if they'll still do the job straps normally would? or if it just makes it more challenging?

Be good to use as an inbetween stage between a bare bar and my FatGripz :eek:
 
Psycho Sonny said:
it was me and freefaller and the app was ifitness

its the number 1 app on istore in health and fitness i think.
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Cheers mate - apparently my phone is too full to download it at the moment though! Shall do once I've streamlined it a bit.........!

Back and Shoulders today - easily my favourite day, partly because the gym is so much more quiet on a Friday!
 
MoNkeE said:
Cheers mate - apparently my phone is too full to download it at the moment though! Shall do once I've streamlined it a bit.........!

Back and Shoulders today - easily my favourite day, partly because the gym is so much more quiet on a Friday!
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Damn right, Friday training ready for the weekend is an awesome feeling, especially once you're routine is finished for the week :D
 
BennyC said:
Never thought of that!

Trying to think logically if they'll still do the job straps normally would? or if it just makes it more challenging?

Be good to use as an inbetween stage between a bare bar and my FatGripz :eek:
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Being the pussy that i am, I like the softer wrap against my callouses, rather than the cold hard rough bar :p
Doesn't make it that thicker and if the wraps are tight enough (making them tighter when both hands are on bar is easier like this also) then they still work as planned :) (mine get very tight, not as tight as wrist wraps though!)
 
Well...two weeks off now...I really want to get back in the garage and do stuff...feel so unhealthy! :p :(

Hopefully my shoulder has repaired a fair bit...although I'm going to take it easier next week hopefully...however much I wish to just go all out! :D
 
Started doing only incline chest work a few weeks ago since I've noticed my upper chest being flatter compared to the lower. Been doing all flat bench work since I started (7 months ago) thinking I'm working my whole chest. :o
 
KizZ said:
Started doing only incline chest work a few weeks ago since I've noticed my upper chest being flatter compared to the lower. Been doing all flat bench work since I started (7 months ago) thinking I'm working my whole chest. :o
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There is no upper/lower chest. Pec minor sits behind pec major ;)

I personally think cable flyes are very good at building the chest and are actually a better contraction for the chest if you think about the way in which the fibres run across the pec minor/major. Bringing the arms down and across the body.
 
So are you saying I've been exercising mostly the pec minor? I know the pec major is one big muscle so it can't be separated with upper/lower but since I started incline I've been feeling soreness in the upper portion, from about the middle all the way up to where the collar bone starts (easy to check when you tap the muscle with your fingers ;)). So i'd guess you're still working your whole chest with incline but putting much more strain on the upper half.
 
Freefaller said:
Grip comes in time. There's no quick way of training it - it just takes time. Lots of deadlifts, weight lifting, and some grip strength will help - but also it is just a matter of the size of your hands, and how active you were as a child, climbing trees exercise etc... that's how it develops. Many factors - it's one of the hardest things to train IMO.

Just for a laugh I'm going to see how much I can hold onto without straps one weekend when the rack is empty, and just see what I can hold on to! :D
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ive got to the point where i can no longer hold onto the weight safely when deadlifting, the weight is no problem but the bar doesn't feel safe in my hands, so i spend a lot of time/focus on whether or not i am going to lose grip rather than doing the lift.

captains of crush set of 3 = £61
set of 5 = £99
set of 10 = £199

i know the set of 10 will be a waste of money, as the top ones can only be done by like 5 people in the world or something.

so im looking at a set of 3/5.

could you recommend me what ones i should get? i know the first one will probably be too easy. so i was thinking of getting 80-195lb, which should probably do me. what do you think?

http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Main/captainsofcrush.html


i also want some decent lifting straps to try them out, i have never used straps before just gloves and wrist wraps to prevent wrist injuries, any recommendation on those?

do you think it would be better paying £20 for each gripper and low postage and order from UK. or ordering for $20 each and a higher postage and ordering from USA where they also have some straps available.

http://ironmind-store.com/Lifting-Straps/products/36/

thanks.
 
BennyC said:
There is no upper/lower chest. Pec minor sits behind pec major ;)

I personally think cable flyes are very good at building the chest and are actually a better contraction for the chest if you think about the way in which the fibres run across the pec minor/major. Bringing the arms down and across the body.
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Whilst it is one big muscle, different angles can affect gains in different parts. When incline, more strain is put on the upper part of the muscle, and vice versa. :)

Besides, no harm in doing variations. :)
 
Psycho Sonny said:
ive got to the point where i can no longer hold onto the weight safely when deadlifting, the weight is no problem but the bar doesn't feel safe in my hands, so i spend a lot of time/focus on whether or not i am going to lose grip rather than doing the lift.

captains of crush set of 3 = £61
set of 5 = £99
set of 10 = £199

i know the set of 10 will be a waste of money, as the top ones can only be done by like 5 people in the world or something.

so im looking at a set of 3/5.

could you recommend me what ones i should get? i know the first one will probably be too easy. so i was thinking of getting 80-195lb, which should probably do me. what do you think?

http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Main/captainsofcrush.html


i also want some decent lifting straps to try them out, i have never used straps before just gloves and wrist wraps to prevent wrist injuries, any recommendation on those?

do you think it would be better paying £20 for each gripper and low postage and order from UK. or ordering for $20 each and a higher postage and ordering from USA where they also have some straps available.

http://ironmind-store.com/Lifting-Straps/products/36/

thanks.
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I brought a bunch of grippers from here:

http://www.ultimategrip.co.uk/

These:
http://www.ultimategrip.co.uk/category-10/HG0005.html

And would recommend them highly. Very good quality and much cheaper than CoC. I used them a bit at uni but haven't touched them in a while.

Having used chalk for my back workout yesterday I found this gave me very big forearm pumps which is obviously taxing the muscles used for grip. Where as the grippers hit my forearms in a different way.

Straps are straps and I wouldn't pay more than £10 for them tbh, you don't need any fancy **** just bog standard straps. They won't improve your grip but remove that element from the deadlift/most pulling movements entirely so your focus isn't on your grip but on correct technique for the lift.

If you want me to take some snaps of the grippers give me a shout.

Dj_Jestar said:
Whilst it is one big muscle, different angles can affect gains in different parts. When incline, more strain is put on the upper part of the muscle, and vice versa. :)

Besides, no harm in doing variations. :)
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Beat me to it! I find flyes give me a bigger contraction and more concentrated contraction over a pressing movement.
 
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TommyV said:
Out of interest, do you do high volume with BW, or lower volume with added weight?
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BW is usually warm up and tend to just do around 10 or so.

I will also do them on warm down as a last burn out set.



PS - CoC are quite good, but most people struggle with the trainer and the #1 is already quite taxing for most. It does help, but it takes years and years of training to build up significant grip.

I appreciate your irritation of your grip - I have the opposite problem, my strength gives out before my grip! :(

Plate pinches are good, as are wrist rollers - you can make these yourself and save money. :)
 
I've got the same hand grips as BennyC, the Heavy Grips. 150, 200 and 250. I think it cost around the £50 mark when I bought them, though it was a while back so I could be making that figure up! I highly recommend them, I can just about close the 250 now for reps. Instead of buying the next one up I just practise holding them shut for as long as possible, which is basically the same as doing bar hangs to be honest.
 
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