*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

[BennyC]

That actually sounds like an awesome idea. only just started my current program and I'm already thinking about the next!

Do you ever think you'll try an intense program like HST on a slightly more hardcore bulking diet? It would be interesting to see if there were any differences for you when compared to IF.

I'm still using IF however have upped my calories so it's a lean bulk now

I'm not really a fan of an intense bulking diet as I find fat gain and water retention for me gets out of control. I'm not naturally skinny (used to be obese when younger) so if I over eat then I tend to store it very easily and my composition starts to diminish

Happy with my progress so far with a calorie surplus and much less cardio compared to last time.

 

[icecold]

Hm, thanks. What's your views on the shakes here after a workout. Just wondering as after the gym I'll normally come home and have the banana variant, half at night but often the other half at breakfast time.

And on the subject of gym, my best session yet.

Squats
5X bar only
5X 60kG
4X6X80kG
2X5X 85kG

Deadlift

2X5X 60kG
2X5X70kG
2X5X 80kG
1X5X 90 kG
Tried one arm with the grip reversed and it made a huge difference.

3X8 X 27.5kG Dumbell rows

5X5X 35kG OHP still struggling to increase weights for upper body

After the gym you need to be getting protein in as soon as possible. For me this means a couple of scoops of whey in water, sometimes with some ground oats or I might just have a banana. The only thing you should avoid at this point is fat as it really increases the time it takes for nutrients to enter the blood stream (so no milk or peanut butter).

Basically, keep it simple

If you're making a shake as a kind of meal replacement for any other time then fat is a great addition. Also, most of my shakes (apart from post-workout ones) contain cinnamon these days as it helps to blunt the associated insulin spike.

Congrats on the gym work. Don't be too concerned with the over head/pushing lifts, sometimes people stall fairly quickly on a 5x5 with these. Just keep at it and then switch up the program when the time is right.


edit: Benny,

Yeah a lean bulk is more what I meant, I'll never be doing a conventional bulk ever again. I've always found the best results with HST when I wasn't calorie restricted and I was able to get lots of rest in between workouts.

 

[Skillmister]

Could do with some advice regarding legs.
I'm currently doing squats, leg press, calf raises and leg extensions which seems plenty as i get some serious doms the next day and struggle to walk home after The only problem is now im progressing with squats my ankle (which i broke years ago) cant keep up with the weight. Today for example i did 60kg for 8 reps which was fine but then on 70 i get some pain in my ankle. I know ive got 80-90 in me leg wise but not with this injury and considering its given me grief for the past few years i doubt it will get any better. Now my question is can i get away with just doing more volume and a lower weight as i really like squats and dont want to be an upper body monkey

The only thing you should avoid at this point is milk as it really increases the time it takes for nutrients to enter the blood stream.

So i should really be having my PWO shake with water not milk?

 

[Dynix]

Diet could do with some work.

- need protein at breakfast
- increase protein in general
- reduce carbs
- mostly avoid fruit. For snacking consider nuts
- stabilise your calorie intake, unless your doing some fancy calorie cycling

Also from what you've posted I don't see where your fat is coming from. 162g is fine (as long as you realise you're getting almost 1500 calories from it and adjust accordingly), but that seems like a lot to come from some milk, tuna and spag bol.

It will depend on what your maintenance calorie level is. But really a simpler approach if you're aiming to lose fat is to take them down to a bare minimum. Definitely cut out the biscuits, which are essentially junk food. Any kind of cereal for breakfast is less than ideal really, but it's also the time when you can best get away with slacking on the carb front. Also reduce your bread and pasta intake.

Honestly don't underestimate the importance of protein at breakfast. It will help fat loss.

Cheers for the direction so far! So looking at what I was already eating, I've devised this: http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7083/71093030.png

This cuts the carbs down drastically - it won't make my body go into meltdown I hope! Good steady stream of protein throughout the day, including breakfast.

Little worried though as the calorie intake would only be 1.2k at best. I tend to burn 500-700 on cardio days, so I suspect I should be aiming for around 2k intake. Not sure what else I could add in to boost this.

Also having a hard time finding other veg to add into the main meal. Carrots and Potatoes are obviously gone as they are high in carbs, as are most veg from what I've seen? Any suggestions on this front?

I've also had a look at nuts, and again, they all seem quite high in carbs, starting at around 10g carb per 25g nuts in most cases (granted I'm using Tesco's website for this). Are there any low-carb nuts around?

Appreciate the help so far!

 

[icecold]

Could do with some advice regarding legs.
I'm currently doing squats, leg press, calf raises and leg extensions which seems plenty as i get some serious doms the next day and struggle to walk home after The only problem is now im progressing with squats my ankle (which i broke years ago) cant keep up with the weight. Today for example i did 60kg for 8 reps which was fine but then on 70 i get some pain in my ankle. I know ive got 80-90 in me leg wise but not with this injury and considering its given me grief for the past few years i doubt it will get any better. Now my question is can i get away with just doing more volume and a lower weight as i really like squats and dont want to be an upper body monkey



So i should really be having my PWO shake with water not milk?

How vertical are your shins when squatting?

And yes, water all the way post-gym.

Cheers for the direction so far! So looking at what I was already eating, I've devised this: http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7083/71093030.png

This cuts the carbs down drastically - it won't make my body go into meltdown I hope! Good steady stream of protein throughout the day, including breakfast.

Little worried though as the calorie intake would only be 1.2k at best. I tend to burn 500-700 on cardio days, so I suspect I should be aiming for around 2k intake. Not sure what else I could add in to boost this.

Also having a hard time finding other veg to add into the main meal. Carrots and Potatoes are obviously gone as they are high in carbs, as are most veg from what I've seen? Any suggestions on this front?

I've also had a look at nuts, and again, they all seem quite high in carbs, starting at around 10g carb per 25g nuts in most cases (granted I'm using Tesco's website for this). Are there any low-carb nuts around?

Appreciate the help so far!

Needs a lot more calories!

Don't worry about carbs from beans, lentils, nuts etc. They are so slow releasing that they don't really count. If you're still struggling, add more fat with olive oil based dressings or avacado, fish etc.


edit: you might find it hard to keep carbs this low all the time. If you're determined to go down this road (very do-able with some thought) it's CRUCIAL to have a mega cheat day once a week. One alternative is to be slightly more relaxed and limit carbs to breakfast and around gym visits. I'm not trying to discourage you from "slow carbing", but it does require some thought

If you want any more meal ideas feel free to ask.

 

[LiE]

I'm on my 2nd week of strength training and should be doing 1 more next week. My plan is to then have 3 weeks of mass training. Do you think this is optimal? Or should I do something in between strength and mass like a light week or a volume week? My goal is to grow.

 

[tom_e]

Cheers for the direction so far! So looking at what I was already eating, I've devised this: http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/7083/71093030.png

This cuts the carbs down drastically - it won't make my body go into meltdown I hope! Good steady stream of protein throughout the day, including breakfast.

Little worried though as the calorie intake would only be 1.2k at best. I tend to burn 500-700 on cardio days, so I suspect I should be aiming for around 2k intake. Not sure what else I could add in to boost this.

Also having a hard time finding other veg to add into the main meal. Carrots and Potatoes are obviously gone as they are high in carbs, as are most veg from what I've seen? Any suggestions on this front?

I've also had a look at nuts, and again, they all seem quite high in carbs, starting at around 10g carb per 25g nuts in most cases (granted I'm using Tesco's website for this). Are there any low-carb nuts around?

Appreciate the help so far!

From one extreme to another right there there's nothing wrong with throwing in some oats with breakfast or some brown rice or pasta

 

[icecold]

After only 3 weeks of strength training I wouldn't worry

However, what is a mass training week if not a lighter week with high volume?

 

[burtie]

Hi all, I'm a little lost with all this macro stuff I'm doing a clean bulk which working it out I need 3000 cals so yesterday my macros where 3134 cals, 124 fat, 246 carbs, 256 protein.

I went over my cal target a bit but do the other numbers look ok? Do I need to eat less when I'm not training? Am I eating to much fat? looks a lot to me.


thanks

 

[LiE]

After only 3 weeks of strength training I wouldn't worry

However, what is a mass training week if not a lighter week with high volume?

True. I'm guess I just want to be training the best I can now that things are going well.

 

[icecold]

not too much fat!

If in doubt, the best way to avoid fat gain is to trim the carbs down a bit.

 

[cheets64]

What is the best supplement to have only just got into lifting weights and looking at supplement sites its a mindfield, currently

5 foot 7
14 stone 3
26% body fat

going to be running/cycling/rowing and weight routine.

Basically want to lose my fat and put on more muscle that is hiding under the fat, I know this is possible but hard, what sort of diet should I be looking at, lean meats/protein?

Breakfast

Porridge oats/Bran/Muesli with skimmed milk

Dinner

Tuna or Turkey in a pitta with some tomatoes/onion/lettuce

Tea

Pasta with a tomato sauce/veg/lean meat
Rice with veg/Lean meat/little dash of Chinese sauce

My lean meats is either a chicken breast/lean mince meat/turkey

Snacks

Been having coupel slices of Malt Loaf or making some oat/honey/nut/raisin bars and having them along, only eat Bananas fruit wise.

Given up cakes/sweets/chocolate/crisps/biscuits for lent

So looking to add a shake into this and maybe some eggs.

 

[Dynix]

How vertical are your shins when squatting?

And yes, water all the way post-gym.


Needs a lot more calories!

Don't worry about carbs from beans, lentils, nuts etc. They are so slow releasing that they don't really count. If you're still struggling, add more fat with olive oil based dressings or avacado, fish etc.


edit: you might find it hard to keep carbs this low all the time. If you're determined to go down this road (very do-able with some thought) it's CRUCIAL to have a mega cheat day once a week. One alternative is to be slightly more relaxed and limit carbs to breakfast and around gym visits. I'm not trying to discourage you from "slow carbing", but it does require some thought

If you want any more meal ideas feel free to ask.

Ah of course, I've had a read of the CKD before and it does say about having a cheat day at the weekend to replenish - must say, I shall be looking forward to that

How about this: http://img861.imageshack.us/img861/4049/50758009.png

Added in some bacon and cheese to the main meal, should make it a little more interesting whilst adding more fat/protein and not a lot of carbs. Bumps the cals up a load as well.

Not a clue on the nut front as I've never tried any so this part will take a bit of experimenting on my part, but I've gone for these for the time being?

Could still do with some more cals somewhere, can't really think of much else to add in.

From one extreme to another right there there's nothing wrong with throwing in some oats with breakfast or some brown rice or pasta

Haha Should've done this a few weeks ago when I started on the 'diet' I'm on now!

 

[BennyC]

Could do with some advice regarding legs.
I'm currently doing squats, leg press, calf raises and leg extensions which seems plenty as i get some serious doms the next day and struggle to walk home after The only problem is now im progressing with squats my ankle (which i broke years ago) cant keep up with the weight. Today for example i did 60kg for 8 reps which was fine but then on 70 i get some pain in my ankle. I know ive got 80-90 in me leg wise but not with this injury and considering its given me grief for the past few years i doubt it will get any better. Now my question is can i get away with just doing more volume and a lower weight as i really like squats and dont want to be an upper body monkey

Nothing wrong with increasing the volume though this will only work for so long without a progressing load. Unless you're prepared to log out massive sets of 30 reps plus.

How does it feel on a leg press? If it's fine on a press then I would be more inclined to think it's your form.

PWO shakes with water. Any other you can have with milk, it'll fill you up quicker but be absorbed slower. PWO you want it in ASAP. Any other time it won't make much difference calories in are calories in.

 

[cheets64]

I did 60kg on Leg Extension today, could have gone more but didnt feel right, my legs are pretty strong from cycling.

Always had strong legs, my back arms on the other hand need a lot of work.

 

[Skillmister]

How vertical are your shins when squatting?

I'm not really sure. I think quite because i cant get my knee far over my toes at all. I dont have any problems with my left ankle just the dodgy one. It gives me a lot of trouble, cant run for long on it and some mornings its really stiff. Funky xrays though

 

[Buffman]

...
5 foot 7
14 stone 3
26% body fat
....

Could add in some whey powder depending on the macros, the best time would be post workout. However I would be looking to cut at those stats, you'll notice results far quicker and it'll give you a far better motivation to stick to your routine.

Did some 80kg powercleans today (first time I've tried them in ages, starting to get the clean movement at the end a lot better).

For dinner tonight and last night I had lots of stir fry veg, some chick peas add in some chilli sauce and chicken. Nom. Very quick to make too.

 

[Skillmister]

Nothing wrong with increasing the volume though this will only work for so long without a progressing load. Unless you're prepared to log out massive sets of 30 reps plus.

How does it feel on a leg press? If it's fine on a press then I would be more inclined to think it's your form.

I see. Never gone above 12-15 reps before so that could be fun!

It's not bad on a press really so you might be right. Although i do have my feet quite high up on there. I'll try get a video next leg day.

 

[BennyC]

It might just be tight calf muscles (soleus specifically) which is a right pain to stretch!

If you can get in to this position:

comfortably then you can squat fine.

If it was a case of pressure or load on the joint then it should also hurt on press. You might find not pushing your knees out will be loading the ankle differently which might be causing the discomfort.

 

[Skillmister]

Thats a good point. Before i got injured i used to do taekwondo twice a week which involved a lot of stretching. Could comfortably get the palm of my hand over my toes with outstretched legs. Now i can barely get my fingertips over.

I do struggle to get into that position a bit. More work needed then i suppose! I'm currently doing some stretches every day to correct some APT ive got going on. My posture is pretty awful but its slowly getting better. Would you recommend adding some calf stretches in every day aswell then?