*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

Going to be doing a huge water depleting experiment. The whole point in this is to DRY myself completely out thru diet and mainly carb manipulation, mild diuretic and slowly re-carb up towards the end. End result SHOULD be should drop any fluid/water maybe even a little fat due to the low glycogen, and the carb UP effect should cause a nice spike and fill the muscle bellys nicely. No point in just shedding water and low carbing and looking flat lol.

If anyones interested I'll post what im doing. This isn't going to get me ripped or whatever before people think this lol, just an experiment as im bored and feel like messing around with things.

Whats the point? you may say, well for one experience, if it goes well then I can keep it in mind for future aspect such as for bbing shows as a lot of bbers come in with messed up fluid levels etc, secondly beneficial for my work, thirdly im bored and have nothing else better to do lets face it.
 
Broke a couple more PB's today, getting there very slowly but my squat is still disappointing:

Legs and Shoulders

Squat

bar x 10
40kg x 8
50kg x 5
60kg x 5
70kg x 1
75kg x 1
80kg x 1 PB :)
85kg x 0 :(

Calf Raises (smith)

80kg x 10
80kg x 10
80kg x 10

Standing barbell press (no push!)

bar x 10
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
40kg x 5
50kg x 1
52.5kg x 1 PB :)
55kg x 0 :(

Decided to move to a push/pull/legs in the new year to freshen things up a bit.
 
Nice overhead press in comparison to your squat :)

After my squat technique disappearing on me Rippetoe's book/DVD has helped. Would recommend it if you haven't already to read it even if you don't feel you need to it's still very useful.
 
TheCenturion said:
Hi again guys.

I've got a 4 week Christmas holiday coming up. I've figured that in between revision and gaming, I'll be able to get to the gym maybe as many as 10 times. As you know, I just do HIIT at the moment and follow it up with a couple of mins of squatting and press ups.

I'm not quite sure what to do, as it's only for 4 weeks, I obviously won't be able to get into a proper routine. So I've decided the best thing to do is just to alternate between leg days and upper body days?

For leg days, it'll be just plain old squats and lunges. For upper body, I'm not so sure what to do. I think bench pressing and chin ups, maybe dead lifting as well?

I'd have to get the help of a trainer to get my form any good, although I remember BennyC suggesting that I could overcome this problem by using machines, as it's for 4 weeks. I'm a bit weary as to whether the trainers will have good enough knowledge to help me perfect my form, I was once told by a trainer that high reps and light weights tones the muscle :o

Any help appreciated, thanks lads :)
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Bringing this back up incase anyone didn't see it:o
 
Originally posted by B1C3P:
Going to be doing a huge water depleting experiment. The whole point in this is to DRY myself completely out thru diet and mainly carb manipulation, mild diuretic and slowly re-carb up towards the end. End result SHOULD be should drop any fluid/water maybe even a little fat due to the low glycogen, and the carb UP effect should cause a nice spike and fill the muscle bellys nicely. No point in just shedding water and low carbing and looking flat lol.

If anyones interested I'll post what im doing. This isn't going to get me ripped or whatever before people think this lol, just an experiment as im bored and feel like messing around with things.

Whats the point? you may say, well for one experience, if it goes well then I can keep it in mind for future aspect such as for bbing shows as a lot of bbers come in with messed up fluid levels etc, secondly beneficial for my work, thirdly im bored and have nothing else better to do lets face it.
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I've always been interested in that side of things coz I hear professional bodybuilders have all these tricks they can do with food and what not to make them look better before competition but I didnt really ever find anything which explained what they did.

What are you going to be eating exactly to help rid fluid?

Also I heard something about them using salt to get rid of water, dont know if thats true.

So yeah am interested in what your doing if you'd like to explain further in a bit more detail.
 
Originally Posted by TheCenturion
Hi again guys.

I've got a 4 week Christmas holiday coming up. I've figured that in between revision and gaming, I'll be able to get to the gym maybe as many as 10 times. As you know, I just do HIIT at the moment and follow it up with a couple of mins of squatting and press ups.

I'm not quite sure what to do, as it's only for 4 weeks, I obviously won't be able to get into a proper routine. So I've decided the best thing to do is just to alternate between leg days and upper body days?

For leg days, it'll be just plain old squats and lunges. For upper body, I'm not so sure what to do. I think bench pressing and chin ups, maybe dead lifting as well?

I'd have to get the help of a trainer to get my form any good, although I remember BennyC suggesting that I could overcome this problem by using machines, as it's for 4 weeks. I'm a bit weary as to whether the trainers will have good enough knowledge to help me perfect my form, I was once told by a trainer that high reps and light weights tones the muscle

Any help appreciated, thanks lads
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I dont really know what HIIT training is, I've got a website saved in my favourates for ages now which talks about HIIT but I havent got round to reading it yet, and so I dont really understand what your problem is but I wouldnt ever listen to the trainers in the gym, they're all idiots in my eyes, and most of them fail at even training begginers with basics.

I think machines are alright for certain things, but I mostly just use barebells and DB's I think most people agree they're better then machines although there is some machines that are really good and have their uses.
 
You shouldn't really deplete your water unless you are 'not-natural' ;) as there is no real gain. IF you were to do it you simply drink less :D Show on Sat, drink what 2galls mostly, then 16oz on Thurs, 8oz on Fri and then just sips or so on Sat.
With food it is simply carb depleting/loading and the same with sodium.
This really is not necessary though :)
 
You shouldn't really deplete your water unless you are 'not-natural' as there is no real gain. IF you were to do it you simply drink less Show on Sat, drink what 2galls mostly, then 16oz on Thurs, 8oz on Fri and then just sips or so on Sat.
With food it is simply carb depleting/loading and the same with sodium.
This really is not necessary though
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Well upto now everyone has always told me to drink loads of water but it sounds as if maybe if I was drinking less I'd look better.

For past year though I always have a pint of water in my hand at all times no matter where I am or where I go.
 
UltimateBadger said:
Yeah I have the book in PDF format but where did you get the DVD from?
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Pretty sure I can't say on here unfortunatley but I'm sure you can guess if you've got the book in PDF.

TheCenturion said:
Hi again guys.

I've got a 4 week Christmas holiday coming up. I've figured that in between revision and gaming, I'll be able to get to the gym maybe as many as 10 times. As you know, I just do HIIT at the moment and follow it up with a couple of mins of squatting and press ups.

I'm not quite sure what to do, as it's only for 4 weeks, I obviously won't be able to get into a proper routine. So I've decided the best thing to do is just to alternate between leg days and upper body days?

For leg days, it'll be just plain old squats and lunges. For upper body, I'm not so sure what to do. I think bench pressing and chin ups, maybe dead lifting as well?

I'd have to get the help of a trainer to get my form any good, although I remember BennyC suggesting that I could overcome this problem by using machines, as it's for 4 weeks. I'm a bit weary as to whether the trainers will have good enough knowledge to help me perfect my form, I was once told by a trainer that high reps and light weights tones the muscle :o

Any help appreciated, thanks lads :)
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Meant to reply to this but forgot!

Probaly your best bet would be to go for an upper lower split, squats, lunges, jump squats, glute bridges etc and then press ups, chins, pull ups, and anything else you can row/press if you have the facility. Obviously add in any machine work if you have the option. If you can make a note of which machines you have I might be able to advise a push/pull split.

In terms of trainers it really does depend a lot of them aren't passionate about lifting or look like they train at all. Hell I even see them coaching incorrect technique.

My advice if you're going to ask for help would be to ask the trainer that looks like he knows what he's doing, trains and has lots of knowledge. Speak to them get to know them a little and ask for some tips.

You shouldn't be able to hurt yourself on the machines but somebody with experience will be able to teach you how to set them up correctly for maximum effectiveness. And also for that matter try to encourage you do use the correct muscles. If in doubt post up what they've been telling you to do. My pet peeve is when people don't set the press low enough and barely touch parralell. ;)
 
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I just read online about detoxing coz I thought it might be a good idea but the site I just read said you need to eat nothing for 24 hours and just drink water and then eat fruit and veg for next 6 days and nothing else. I reckon I could do it but I dont think I'd have the willpower to not go to gym for one week, coz theres no way I'd have energy to go workout if I was doing a detox, and I cant stand to be away from gym for more then one day lol.

Maybe I'll do it in the future though, when am sick or sommat.

Have any of you ever tried a detox plan, and if so what was the outcome?
 
SkScotchegg said:
I just read online about detoxing coz I thought it might be a good idea but the site I just read said you need to eat nothing for 24 hours and just drink water and then eat fruit and veg for next 6 days and nothing else. I reckon I could do it but I don't think I'd have the willpower to not go to gym for one week, coz theres no way I'd have energy to go workout if I was doing a detox, and I cant stand to be away from gym for more then one day lol.

Maybe I'll do it in the future though, when am sick or sommat.

Have any of you ever tried a detox plan, and if so what was the outcome?
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I think the general consensus is its a load of old crap, just make sure you've got a good diet with plenty of fruit veg and water in anyway and you will be fine.
I definitely wouldn't be trying it when ill either way as your bodies already weak no point in starving it of the nutrients it needs to heal.
 
Clipsey said:
You shouldn't really deplete your water unless you are 'not-natural' ;) as there is no real gain. IF you were to do it you simply drink less :D Show on Sat, drink what 2galls mostly, then 16oz on Thurs, 8oz on Fri and then just sips or so on Sat.
With food it is simply carb depleting/loading and the same with sodium.
This really is not necessary though :)
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Essentially correct, although that isn't the best water protocol. I only really know about this from a powerlifting point of view, but it's basically the same apart from the carb/salt loading (I think!). In the week preceding the event you would drink 2 gallons of water a day and reduce carbs and salt to as low a level as possible. Then 12 hours before the event stop drinking water completely. Because your body has had to cope with a lot of fluid intake it will be very efficient at expelling water, so those 12 hours will effectively drain you of fluids quite dramatically. Salt is reduced because it promotes water retention. After weigh in you go nuts and eat/drink as much as you can.

OT: respect for the iron man Clipsey! :cool: Any plans to do another?

SkScotchegg said:
Well upto now everyone has always told me to drink loads of water but it sounds as if maybe if I was drinking less I'd look better.

For past year though I always have a pint of water in my hand at all times no matter where I am or where I go.
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No, this is not the way to go about it. If you simply reduce your fluid intake your body will simple condition itself to expell less fluids, leaving you at square one.

If you're thinking of doing this personally to look better you're massively barking up the wrong tree. Bodybuilders do this to look good for literally about an hour, and they already have very low body fat so the effects can actually be seen. I suspect that what you need to do is reduce your body fat levels. Keep drinking lots of water, it's good for you.




On an entirely separate note, did my final "A" day of 15s of HST today:

Back Squats: 122.5kgx15x2 PB, was easy really
Stiff leg deadlift: 120kgx15x2 PB, again easy. Although I have 122.5kg on friday, but I might increase that
Incline DB press: 35kgx15x2 PB, not so easy but not a problem, was the right weight
Pulldown: 80kgx15x2 first set was easy, second was a struggle. Think lats were fatigued slightly from SLDL
Dips: 22.5kg started these but skipped them because my shoulder was niggling, forgot to do rotator cuff warmups! :o
HC2PP: 47.5kgx15x2 PB, my god these were horrible, glad I didn't try 50kg. I find these the most aerobically challenging of all the exercises and I'm REALLY unfit at the moment. Was running out of time as well so had to rush my rest, kind of ended up being a big set of 30 with several pauses :o:D
Calfs: ran out of time

Feel pretty good, disappointed with dips but I might do a couple of sets with a light weight on friday to compensate. I really don't want to aggrevate my shoulder for the rest of the program! Fitness has improved dramatically over the last few weeks, starting to actually feel like a bit of an athlete again. Also, I'll tell you what isn't ideal, is realising you need a poo just as you start squatting and not having enough time to take care of business :eek: Felt like every rep was a danger rep! Not cool.
 
Just a quick one lads. No access to Gym for next month, have dumbbells, barbell, swiss ball at home. Would the following workout be OK or am I going to end up over doing it?

Mon - Triceps/Chest
Tue - Shoulders
Wed - Rest
Thurs - Back/Biceps
Fri - Legs/Abs
Sat - Rest (or short high intensity (6:20) 2.5 mile run)
Sun - Rest

I have all the time in the world and can hit the weights whenever so would that be OK or could anyone suggest an improvement. I want to hit shoulders hard on their own day but I'm worried doing them after a chest session on the previous day may not be constructive. My aim is to induce growth, I've got enough weights at home to push myself hard with most things and my diet is excellent.
 
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I wouldn't do shoulders and chest back-to-back; tried it before and my second session was absolutely pitiful - could barely hit the weights I usually lifted yet alone hit the same amount of reps.

Try something like this perhaps:
Mon - Legs/Abs
Tue - Back/Triceps
Wed - Rest
Thurs - Chest/Biceps
Fri - Rest
Sat - Shoulders
Sun - Rest

Or if you don't fancy legs on a monday, do shoulders/abs on monday, legs on saturday. I also prefer to do chest/bi and back/tri on seperate days; a chest workout tends to hit the bi's quite hard as well, so saving the tri's til they've had time to rest a bit will make your dedicated tri workout all the better :)

In my opinion ofcourse!
 
That does make a lot more sense given the flexibility and time I have. I'll give it a go, like I said my main concern is that I want to induce muscle growth so does that routine you suggested involve enough resting time for various muscle groups in between the days?

Cheers
 
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