*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

Makunouchi, I reckon that's inadvisable mate unless it literally is 1cm. Otherwise it's just asking for an injury down the line.


Sorry came late into the genetics discussion. Its' something I've pondered a lot - my opinion is that there is no such thing as good genetics, just different genetics. I know I can't reach the size that someone like FF would strive for but to be honest I have no interest in it anyway.

It annoys me when guys in the gym or on forums (luckily we don't really have the problem here) with genetics for size advise smaller guys on terrible techniques just because they worked for them. Big guys don't understand that a lot of them can get away with terrible diet and training because their genetics allow for it and if they actually trained/ate properly they'd be even bigger.
 
fluffmct said:
Makunouchi, I reckon that's inadvisable mate unless it literally is 1cm. Otherwise it's just asking for an injury down the line.
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I guess I will take a spirit level out there tomorrow and see exactly how much it slopes. To be honest there's no where else I can do it right now so unless someone says I'm risking injury I will probably try to make the best of it somehow.
 
Makunouchi said:
I guess I will take a spirit level out there tomorrow and see exactly how much it slopes. To be honest there's no where else I can do it right now so unless someone says I'm risking injury I will probably try to make the best of it somehow.
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Is there no where you can do it indoors downstairs?
 
I don't think you're risking direct injury but more indirect problems down the line. Like you won't actually injure yourself deadlifting but you might develop a muscular imbalance and hurt yourself lifting something trivial up. I'm no expert on it but it'd be much better just to find somewhere else to do it just in case
 
Unusual system for increasing muscle mass formally knowm as tourniquet training: used in space travel to reduce atrophy in astronauts, and to build muscle and strength for those who can't lift the 60% 1rm loads typically required for gains in strength and muscle mass. I imagine you'll never have to worry about not getting a pump ever again after this:

http://kaatsu.jp/english/journal.html

Also featured in january 2010 Muscle & Fitness.

Edit: Quite a hefty read for the first link but in the West it goes by the name of Occlusion Training.
Less academic link here: http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/index.cfm?page=article&go2=1489
Suffice it to say this must be very dangerous for those with blood disorders or low blood pressure problems and those lacking in common sense etc.
 
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BennyC said:
Is there no where you can do it indoors downstairs?
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Sadly not, I don't trust the bedroom floors in this place and there's not really anywhere downstairs to do it.

Anyway, if I can prove commitment to myself I think I will end up joining the gym I go to to box, but I can't right now as I can't afford the expense. The weight I'm lifting now is comparatively light anyway, and by the time I get to anything heavy I will definitely be in a gym.

I'm really enjoying this time off training at the moment, I'm eating more, doing things like squats which I couldn't do before because it interfered with training, and generally enjoying challenging myself in a new way. I'm seriously considering taking the rest of this boxing season off until the autumn again and just hitting the weights and eating massive and then cutting back on bf% for the next boxing season.
 
Well, I realised this morning that I was asking for advice and then ignoring it when it was given, sorry about that :) So today I cleared out our conservatory a bit and did Deads in there on the flat. I felt a lot more secure and safe, might have just been in my head though, you never know with the body :rolleyes: Anyway, I've been really focusing on my form and videoing most sets and then watching it back in between, so I know exactly when/how I'm going wrong. I'm also trying to think of Deads as a leg exercise that I just happen to do along with other back exercises, and trying to use my legs as much as possible through the lift. I managed 110Kgs today with good form so I must be doing something right :)

Anyway I was hoping I could get a form check on T bar rows, I can see some serious scope for messing up the lower back so I want to make sure I do it correctly. This is rhe best angle I could get, hope it shows enough.


Yes, my workout music is a Radio 4 program about the creation and creator of the Mr. Men... I got up to 50Kgs in the end, I really love this exercise, you can really feel the whole spread of your back moving. I'm not sure why I seem to be turning my wrists in at the bottom part of the rep though, I didn't know I was doing that, maybe I shouldn't? Should I lean forward more to get my back more parallel to the ground or is that stance ok?

The other one I wanted a check on was Dumbbell Pullovers. I was getting a bit of pain in the back on my shoulders when trying to do this and I wondered if I was supposed to be turning my shoulders some way to prevent this?

(please ignore my pink bedroom door...)

Does that look right? Am I going too far back with it or what? I also wasn't feeling this much on my Lats, maybe there is a better exercise I could be doing for them? I don't want to do two rowing movements in the same workout, any suggestions?

Last one, just wanted to make sure I was doing this right as I'm using dumbbells not a bar, although I think and ez-curl type bar might be a wise purchase at some point.


Excuse the light weight and apparent amount of effort, this was the last thing I did at the end of my workout, so arms were a bit tired.

And lastly just a couple of pictures to show that with a little ingenuity you can do almost any exercise at home :p
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Thanks guys.
 
Hard to comment on the T-bars as a side shot is needed really though from what I can see it looks pritty good.

In regards to back angle it's upto you. As long as your back isn't rounding have a play. I like to do B.O.R's parralell to the ground and then T-Bars anything from 30-45degrees.

Not sure about the wrist twisting, probaly just a more natural postion with less stress on the biceps tendon. Nice rep tempo's too btw.

Can't really speak from experience about the pull overs as I've never done them though we were taught a barbell pullover on my Level 2 Instructor Course. The elbows were fixed at 90 degrees and rotation was from the shoulders pulling from the elbow. Just trying it now keeping elbows at 90 degrees feels much more comfortable on the shoulders and I can feel I get a slightly bigger stretch, it's a lat exercise not a chest exercise. (as it's commonly mistaken for)

Not had a play with french press either unfortunatley!

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks BennyC, everything helps :)

With the pullover I did try to bend my arms more on my last set and it did seem I could squeeze my Lats more and there was less pain, next time I will try as you suggest.

I might try to get more of an angle on the T bars, I guess the more you bend over the more it loads the Lats? My lower back is usually the first thing to get injured though as I found from my boxing so I think I will take it very easy with that.
 
Have a play with the angle and you'll see how and where it effects. I can't recall which position does which for me.

Provided your back is kept straight and you bend your knees as appropriate to the angle of your back to the floor you should be fine mate :)
 
With any pulling motion be sure to arch your lower back, and lock it out it engages the lats more that way (which is a very strong muscle group). However from that angle it looks good, nice controlled negative, good solid lifting, no cheating. Good stuff. It's one of my favourite back exercises. :)
 
Thanks FF, after hearing Dorian Yates talking about how important it is to arch the back on Lat exercises, that's exactly what I was trying to do.

I'll probably post a couple more videos next week to check some other stuff if people don't mind too much.
 
Have you tried pullovers over the side of a bench rather than lying on it? (Tops of shoulders touching the bench and sitting with bum on your feet) I always preferred it that way - gets more of a stretch provided you don't straighten the hips and can really feel it on the lats
 
I have a question, ive been doing weightlifting now for about 10 months now and my gym instuctors have been making my programs is ever 6 weeks, then i get a different one made for me, and with each different program it gets harder which im guessing is the right idea. Anyway im not sure on how quick i should be upping the weight i sort of feel it should go up each week or two. But what my instuctors tells me is that wont be possible as if thats true you would be benching 500kg:p He tells me only put the weight up by a couple KGs or even one KGs as long as my technique doesnt suffer, i shouldnt rush these things as i could injure myself. When he talks he sounds like he knows what he's talking about so ill listen to him, am i right?
 
Freefaller said:
So you don't want to go higher yet you want to pack on more muscl?! :p Make up your mind!

Overall the diet isn't TOO bad.

I'd ditch the shake in the morning and add an extra egg. I presume it's wholemeal bread and not white bread? I'd also have some fruits, and/or maybe a yoghurt with some berries of some kind, or a small bowl of porridge.

However you're training soon after - so maybe wise to keep it lighter, however it's more important to get a decent meal within an hour of training. So maybe split the breakfast, i.e. have porridge in the morning before gym and some eggs and fruit etc... after training.

I presume with lunch you have some veg too? And I don't mean one or two, as in a decent serving?

The pasta you have at work, I presume is wholemeal? Do you make it yourself or is it premade? (i.e. lots of added sugars etc...) I take it there will be veg too?
Grapes and prunes are good though.
Not sure about the cereal bar - loaded with sugars and simple carbs, I'd find an alternative. Yoghurt is cool though - again, make sure it's not loaded with sugars and additives etc...

Ditch the cookie - sure it's good to have a treat, but every day? A cookie will give you a huge short digested insulin spike, and serves little purpose - sure it tastes nice. Treat yourself to some from time to time, but don't make it part of a staple diet.

Soup and mackerel is good - though clearly be aware of what's going into your soup.

Have you worked out the macros and the figures of what you're eating? Keep a food diary? Don't forget to add drinks to it too - it does clock up, especially horrid fizzy drinks. I take it you drink lots of water?

178lbs is a good weight, do you know what your BF is? (don't guess - it's ok not to know!). You have to be set in your goals. If you want to maintain, you can still work with high intensity - no point in training half hearted - if you want to gain mass you're going to have to eat more and train harder! ;)

Overall the diet is ok, though I'd like to see more veg. I'm not sure of your serving sizes or the amounts of each portion of c/p/f, you're a bit carb heavy and fat light, but it's a lot better than I've seen. I'm sure you're hitting without the shakes over 100g of protein (I'm trying to go my my portion size and shrink it a little), so almost what you should be having on a daily basis - if your portions are bigger than I have guessed then you're well on your way. Keep the post work out shake, but do do do eat after the gym - it's the 2nd most important feed of the day (the PWO meal), and because you have it at breakfast time I'd make sure you load up a bit more. Furthermore by training in the morning the meal you have the night before is more pertinent. So mackerel is ideal as it'll be slowly digested taking full advangtage of your nightly hormone releases, a quick breakfast in the morning to elevate you, a hard training session (if you're not ready to puke you're not training hard enough! :D) and a good PWO meal and you're good to go. The rest looks ok, just make sure you eat at least 3 big portions of veggies.



Sounds spot on to me. I responded very well to that sort of dosing - I was aiming for a dietary excess of around 5-7g per day. Though although I said there's little point, I did frontload it, though it must be said that last time I used creatine I was having a very low meat diet for the time before.
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bakes0310 said:
Thanks so much FF im gonna take your advice, its probably gonna take a couple weeks to change the diet properly (got to eat the food thats in the cupboard) but i should be alright. Im gonna ditch the soup at supper and always have mackeral instead.

Questions though from your post just to make sure:)

1. I have 2 scrambled eggs on wholemeal bread, but you think a third egg would be better before workout.

2. You really think i should ditch the synergy drink before workout, even though thats what its for?

3.My pasta is homemade and its wholemeal. Like i said i either have chicken or tuna in it. Is that still a really good meal to keep, as i really like it and i think its quite popular to have for us fitness guys/gals.

4. the cereal bar ill ditch but is there an alterantive maybe a cheapish protein bar maybe?

5.The cookie is homemade and if my gran knows where you live watchout. But i think i could ditch it, but it does have hazlnuts in it. Maybe i could swap it for a peanut butter sandwich (wholemeal of course) is sunpat alright?

6. When it comes what i drink im very good. I never touch fizzy drinks (i had a coke last week and screwed my face up at the taste) all i ever drink is water, orange squash and apple juice, oh and some milk.

7. My BF was measured on a machine and it was 17% but that was over 4 months ago (before i had the above diet and really changed it). I know there not meant to be accurate but my instructors swear by it that it is by about 1% give or take maybe.

Finally could you recommend me a pre/post workout drink, like i mentioned in another thread im on Phd synergy but its giving me the runs (you remember reading that now) i was looking at some sort of whey isolate. I seen some on myprotein website but i dont know if there one of thoes cheap and nasties you mention before.

Thanks for all your advice already FF, i hope it doesnt seem ungrateful me coming back questioning your great post you made me, but i just wanted to make sure and improve my diet. Like ive posted before i really look up to you and cant wait to see what wisdom you can bring to this young'un!:D
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Freefaller said:
You've certainly got the right attitude, which helps. :) I don't mind helping people, or at least offering advice to those that ask for it who are happy to take on board what is being said. So no worries. :)

Pre workout you need to give yourself some energy and some protein, but the PWO meal is the most important - I'll let you decide, but maybe a small bowl of porridge and then the eggs on toast afterwards?

I'm not sure what synergy drink is - what does it contain? If you feel it helps, keep it, but that's your call. :)

Pasta sounds good, make sure it's heavier on the filling than the actual pasta though! i.e. bulk it out with veg and protein based food (i.e. meat).

Cereal bar is just loaded with sugars and server very little nutrionally. Don't bother about a protein bar - how about some cottage cheese, or some hummous and carrots, or oatcakes - jsut something a bit more wholesome would be better IMO.

Haha - well if the cookie is that nice, by all means treat yourself, I'm just saying it's likely to give you very little in terms of nutrition, and whether or not it has hazlenuts - it's like that nutella advert trying to tell us it's healthy because it contains nuts! :D If you want a snack, how about sardines, or some ham and cheese, or something like that? ?Not as tasty as a cookie I admit, but 100% better for you!

Drinks sound good, though just be aware that a lot of juices add sweetners to them.

Don't trust that machine - seriously. Get yourself measured properly. Any instructor worth their salt wouldn't state that those machines are "ok". :)

Post work out I like something with electrolytes, but also I make my own mixture of finely blended oats nad protein (as well as a few other magic things such as cinnamon etc...). The actualy drink is less important if you have a decent meal PWO. Hence why I suggested you split your brekkie. It's more important to get some slow releasing protein at night, then worry about post workout if you're about to have a meal. I have a shake PWO as I don't eat till about 1.5hrs afterwards and want to start the recovery process - you have the opportunity to eat straight away. It's your call, your money. :)
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Just bumping these post up so FF knows what im on about:p

Right ive adjusted my diet and im eating as recommended by you but im still having the problem of my weight not going up, im currently 12stone 7pounds and for the past 4-5 months i have been either 2 pounds lighter or 2 pounds away from 13stone.
 
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