*** The 2010 Gym Rats Thread ***

I just load myself up on herbal anti-I's and just get on with it... it's stupid and I don't recommend it - but a few weeks off should see you right. :)

What ben says is true to a point about training legs. However, training legs are the biggest muscles in your body and as such generate more hormonal releases when stressed, meaning that when training upper boddy there is more free hormones floating about enabling better development of the upper body - furthermore these hormones help increase your MBR and reduce visceral fat. However, training legs alone won't make your upper body grow. Muscles only grow when traumatised - end of. You could take lots of naughty supplements and if you didn't lift a weight you'd gain no muscle, but probably bitch **** :p

Your body likes synergy, and it's all linked, however it doesn't come for free. Keeping active will likely keep your hormone levels at a higher concentration, your upper body will atrophy to a certain extent, but certainly a decreased rate by keeping active in any way you're able to. That's just plain science.

People who train only upper body (grrrrr :mad: ) will develop, sure. However osmeone that does both will develop more, and quicker - it's that clear cut. However, legs being such a large muscle group that are used daily require a lot more work to help them develop.
 
My sessions are getting heavier and heavier.

150kg squats for 25 reps (3 sets), deep.
Close grip press ups with 35kg for 10 reps.
Standing shoulder DB press 25kg for 30 reps (considering I have a weakness in my shoulder I'm happy with that - can't wait to get back to push pressing again though!)
30 reps of chins with 5kg

I really really need to work on my deadlift to bring it back up to strength as my squattign is going to overtake it soon. :/

I'm feeling REALLY confident I'm going break 600kg this year. I can feel it in my bones. I'm so motivated for the gym at the moment. I was losing my way November last year - it's come back to me in style now.
 
You shouldn;'t be pulling up on the bar at all, it should be all leg work. You need to get your shoulders and upper body in such a way so as to leave it in as much of a neutral position as possible. Your arms just act as a hook. There is invariably a bit of a pull when you get heavy, and your form/technique goes, but it should be entirely a pushing exercise from the heels, through the hams, and glutes.
 
ergonomics said:
It's the rigid extension of my back i have trouble with. I guess i will have to do some trial and error with just the bar and see what's going on. Keeping my chest up from the get go should set my scapula into the correct position. I've noticed as i get heavier as i lift up my shoulders drop and at the top of the deadlift i feel like i am at the bottom position of a shrug.
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Yeah, try keeping your head up or even looking straight up - that might help keep the shoulders back. Rolling your shoulders forward will just lead to you losing form (as you said quite correctly). Experiment, but carefully, and with lighter weights first. :)
 
Niir said:
bicep work outs are a w a s t e of time.

smallest most pointless muscle group to train. Stabizing other exercises is more than enough to get definition.

triceps over biceps anyday imo.
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I agree about triceps, triceps are what make you arms look big - however, it's about synergy and symmetry, training 1 without the other is equally pointless as you end up with an imbalance. My arm work outs tend to be bias on the tricep as I do enough back work to stimulate bicep development. I never do full on arms sessions, they're always a subsidiary exercise.

Ben B said:
Gain 20 lbs and finally start seeing some gains in mass and muscle. :D
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20lbs is a tremendous amount of weight! You must be chuffed! How much of that is fat/water do you reckon? Either way it's good work - do you think you've increased your BF significantly as a result? What have you moved from, to, in terms of weight? How long have you been training?

Well done! And keep it up - it gets harder - I'm currently happy to gain 4-5lbs a year!

GSDog said:
What can I do to motivate myself during these horrible winter months?

I haven't been lifting for 6 weeks now and I'm feeling really down. I started in September last year and initially made good progress but in December I got the flu and I haven't been since.
I workout in a barn with no heating and it's absolutely freezing. Unfortunately I don't live near any gyms and I don't even know of any with decent free weight equipment around here. :(
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I *need* the gym to keep me in check. IT takes a lot of motivation to go there, but as I drive past it on the way home it makes it a little easier. However, I look in the mirror, and I look at those that inspire me and see the progress I've made and just want to carry on and get bigger stronger, leaner and healthier.

To warm yourself up do some decent warm ups and if you cool down too much between sets, again do some warm ups.

If I had the chance to work out in my own area I'd be out there every day! :D

Once you're training you'll get back into it - the hardest step is to get yourself there.
 
hurfdurf said:
When deadlifting, if your grip kinda goes and your holding the bar with your fingertips on one hand, do you continue with the lift or let it drop and try again?
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If I was at the top of the rep, I'd have enough grip to let it back down to the ground anyway, and since you unload the bar at the bottom it doesn't matter. If I'm on the lift, i.e. coming off the ground, and it starts to fail, I know my grip levels well enough as to whether or not I should drop it and retry or carry on.
 
Cardio is important. Without decent CV health, you hindering your performance end of. Even the mass monsters who I dont' find particularly inspiring, do cardio. However, I'd keep away from long bouts of steady state cardio (which is rubbish anyway :p), and up the HIIT at least 3x per week for a good intense 30mins. Look at rugby players, they're big heavy strong dudes, yet are pretty fit and can run up and down a rugby pitch for 80mins. Sure they probably won't do a marathon in 4hrs, but then they don't look like an emaciated albino-like skeletal bag of skin and bones either. I'd be of the opinion (that other than the beer :p) rugby players are probably in better state of health (bar the bone breaks too) than all out long distance runners.

You can keep good CV health and keep lifting big heavy weights and gain mass - they are not mutually exclusive. anyone that says you can't do both needs to be shot.
 
Sorry to say chaps but you're wrong - cardio (even mild HIIT) is important. Sure the anaerobic activity does give you a bit of a CV workout, but specific CV work is critical for health, end of. It's not just about keeping lean it's about keeping your whole body working well and healthily. People who think that not doing cardio is fine are just kidding themselves I'm afraid. Now of course you're in your early 20s and your bodies are undoubtedly keeping lean whilst working out hard and eating well, however it's not just about being lean.

I seriously urge those of you that think cardio isn't important to review, research and understand, because you're kidding yourselves.
 
dun said:
I can see where you are coming from FF and its important when educating people who are starting out in fitness/ older people and unfit/ high bodyfat people. But like you say I am young, naturally very very lean and naturally fit. Every week day I'm in the gym sweating and panting busting my ass, as well as trying to be in tune to what my body needs.
Then you got guys like my grandad who smoked like a chimney, drank everyday, ate ridiculously fatty food everyday, and did 0 training never mind cardio. I know that seems like an extreme example but in real life that's how people live. The gym is a chore that most people can not be bothered to endure. Sure it may shave a few years off in the end but this sport it far from healthy anyway. I might not live to 85 like my grandparents, but will that be because I neglected specific cardio training when I was 21, or will it be because I spent most of my young life lifting heavy weights day after day taxing my system, force feeding myself a protein rich diet, take supplements for this and that, having to do normal everyday things overweight/ obese. I dunno but as always I'm not saying do what I do, I just give my own experiences no bull :)
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Of course going to the gym and taxing your body is good for you - but you're putting a strain on your body, and by being cardiovascular fit it just helps that process along, if anything it might even enable you to develop more muscle, be leaner and stronger too. :)

Being a big guy doesn't necessarily affect longevity as long as you're overall a healthy person eating well and doing physical activity. It's no different to farmers or lumberjacks etc... I've met some huge guys who never go to hte gym but just have big taxing jobs and as a result are big people. Fit as a fiddle though - working 10hrs on a farm (in the States) I felt like I had done 1 week's worth of AGVT in 1 day! Seriously hard core.

You can be lean and slim but still have bad cholesterol and high visceral fat too - not that it'll be the case for you necessarily, but it's just a passing comment. Being lean and strong does not necessarily mean fit, though often it does go hand in hand I grant you that.

Protein rich diets are fine, our ancestors before processed foods came along were probably much more adept at eating high protein low carb foods than we are now in this modern world of processing. In fact our bodies haven't evolved quickly enough compared to the rate at which our refining process and farming process has evolved. Hence why so many people have allergies and diabetes, obesity and al. Our bodies just haven't caught up with where modern society and science has. We're ahead of ourselves, literally!

I'm not saying you have to be a marathon runner (I don't see the point), but you see so many weight trainers who run out of breath running for the bus, or climbing some stairs, or playing 20 mins of rugby. I just find that a bit sad and pathetic.

All I'm saying is, don't neglect looking after your heart and lungs - they are the most important organs in your body. If you're going to stress them, give them some training to cope. :)
 
PAz said:
180kg overhand grip is great mate. well done.
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cheers mate. Really hapy with it. 3rd set started to fail by the 4th rep so used hook grip instead which is ok. Hands are nicely callused today! :cool:

Really looking Towards more strongman. Startig to get my strength an fitness back with a vengence!

Benny06 said:
Aye, good stuff. I love double overhand if I fancy really smashing it. Though if I'm just trying to shift as much as possible alternating works best.

Just crossed my mind double underhand? must be a particular reason why it's uncommon? Incredibly hard? or bad spinal/scapula alignment?
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to be honest mixed is ok if your grip is strong and strength is ok. But youre putting a lot of stress on your bicep. I shouldn't think double underhand to be sensible Furthermore you'd have a lot less grip strength as the rotation of your wrist doesn't lend itself to optimal tendon tension and strength. Even when I use straps it's double overhand.
 
Yep, that'll do it. That wouldn't happen on overhand grip, try it at home. Extend your arm and make a strong fist, then with your other hand feel around the elbow joint at the bottom of the bicep, feel how it's different when you rotate your forearm to overhand/underhand grip. You can feel where the muscle is under tension and still loose, furthermore, you can feel when the tendons are twisted. twisted tendon/muscle = weakness and chance of snapping under tension.

As per the video that's exactly what I was alluding to - hence my choice of double overhand even with straps. :)
 
Looks spot on to me, good straight back looking at a fixed point, even the lowering phase was pretty good. I like to RDL it down to my knees then drop it, but I don't think you can do that comfortably sumo style. Nice hip/glute activation at the top of of the lift. :) Good to see you're barefoot too - 'tis the only way to do it! :cool:
 
Mix grip helps as it adds a counter rotation movement in the lift - but it's just not as good as double overhand of hook grip. However mix grip puts a lot more tension on the bicep than overhand grip - it's just basic kinesiology as I'm sure you know. I keep away from it - if I struggle with the hook grip then I hit the straps rather than do mixed grip if I can avoid it - albeit I'm not going that heavy.
 
ben90 said:
Can anyone recommend some good exercises for leg/hip flexibility, id like to do them on my off days to help aid recovery and technique on squats. I find when I get to working sets I tend to do a slight good morning instead of keeping my trunk up lol.

Im fairly sure my core strength is not the issue as I can deadlift a fair amount more than squat while maintaining good technique.

Also what is the common mistake for your wrists hurting during a squat? I guess its my shoulders not being flexible enough right?
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I'd agree it doesn't sound like a core issue, and very much a hip flexor, perhaps ab/adductor tightness? Do you do it with no weight on your back? Can you do perfect form doing a body weight arse to grass squat?

Never heard of aching wrists furing squats - are you trying to support the bar with your hands? It should just be resting on your shoulders/traps. That being said even with tight shoulders I don't see where the pressure might be. Maybe you've got the bar too low down your back?
 
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