*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

[LiE]

I never bother with steam room or sauna. After 1hr 15mins of weight training all I want to do is take my PWO shake and go home to prepare dinner.

Cardio depends on your goals really. I haven't done cardio in many years, but I'm naturally lean so any cardio would just be extra calories I'd have to eat. I've always been of the mind that if you want to lose weigh, do cardio and to gain muscle do weights. Mixing the 2 can over complicate things.

 

[J.T]

I do 15 minutes Cardio (between 85%/95% effort) 4 to 5 times a week After each weights session, its a good idea to keep the cardiovascular system in tune as it does help with your lifting.

 

[LiE]

I plan to put some cardio into mix when I'm a bit older, but for now doing high volume weights is more than enough conditioning.

 

[Gangster]

whoosh

 

[tom_e]

What's the point of pump sups? I have a tub of Jack3d which I use if I have to work out after work rather than before, but I typically use that to get myself buzzed rather than achieve a big pump. Is it just a mental thing (bigger pump makes you feel better?) or is it a case of pseudo science? Bigger pump = enlarged blood vessels = more protein absorbed directly to the muscle?

The pump it is better than cumming

 

[soundb0y]

Thanks for all the advice!

I think the gainer shake is doing quite a bit tbh, it is 1500 cals per serving. http://monstersupplements.com/store/p/4570/1/Inner-Armour-Hard-Mass---15lb.html

Theres a link.

I will look at getting some spinnach in, quite like it now. Is it much more expensvie than lettuce as I'm getting through a fair few of them.

Im using milk before bed as I heard it releases the protein slower overnight. Sorry not skimmed, semi skimmed as it's what the family uses. Might look into a proper bedtime shake later on.


When I say overhead press I mean DB shoulder press. TBH I thought my shoulders have been progressing more than anything, will look into some face pulls none the less

--

I think the before pics I was still carrying a similar amount of fat the pics just don't show it as much. I have always had a bit of a belly and started doing cardio after christmas, then thought screw it why not bulk now and worry about that later.

Shoulder presses I have just moved onto the 18kg dumbels, 8x3 , failing on about 6/7th rep of last set.

Lat raise I have just started using the 10kg DBs.


Thanks again!

 

[soundb0y]

The pump it is better than cumming

 

[burtie]

Well what a crap workout No energy left to to much after squats then I started shaking and felt sick.

Went into the gym in a mood too full of doms and just ****** off in general today.

Someone get me some Tampax as it must be my time of the month.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

going to start HST today. i will be finding out my 15 rep maxes.

now just for example lets say my 15 rep max is 40kg. when i go to start my actual workout, what weight would i use?

40kg or lower which builds up to 40kg.

 

[LiE]

burtie, it happens mate, don't stress over it. I've spend a whole day eating perfectly, to then go in the gym and throw it all up. Sometimes it can be a sign that you are ill or getting ill.

 

[MoNkeE]

lower which builds up to 40kg.

That's what you want mate

I calculated my 15rm squat as being 65kg, so started at 52.5kg and added an extra 2.5kg on each session until I hit 65kg on my 6th work out. It's actually my 6th work out tomorrow for 15s, so quite looking forward to it

 

[burtie]

going to start HST today. i will be finding out my 15 rep maxes.

now just for example lets say my 15 rep max is 40kg. when i go to start my actual workout, what weight would i use?

40kg or lower which builds up to 40kg.

15 20 25 30 35 40 kg goes up in 5kg for big compounds or 2.5kg for smaller isolation work.

 

[burtie]

burtie, it happens mate, don't stress over it. I've spend a whole day eating perfectly, to then go in the gym and throw it all up. Sometimes it can be a sign that you are ill or getting ill.

Yeah I know It's just a pain sometimes. I'll be making it up on Saturday for the last of the 15s for HST.

 

[MoNkeE]

15 20 25 30 35 40 kg goes up in 5kg for big compounds or 2.5kg for smaller isolation work.

I wouldn't agree with that. If the weight you're using isn't particularly heavy, there's no need to drop it down too far. 65kg was my 15rm, but starting at 35kg would've been ridiculously light for squats!

 

[icecold]

Realised I ordered from them 2 years ago so cant get the discount on the first order.

Maybe I could try a new email address and get £1 off?

Went to the gym today, did 5 miles to the gym on the bike down hill then just had a swim and jaccuzi and steam room, could not lift anything didnt want to due to Tuesday work out, then biked 5 miles home up hill, hammered it home, just kept it above 16 mph on the flats and 10 mph on hills, eating up the miles on the bike felt my legs hurting from the weights on them on Tuesday, just going all out, going to ruin every muscle, get the heart going, having a rest day today then going back on Friday, my triceps feel like someone has took them out and kicked them around a football pitch and put them back, pecks are tender, oh well in it for the long run.

I will always appreciate the points but don't put yourself out unnecessarily

Any idea of how many calories i should be consuming based on the previous posts?

It's kind of hard to answer this.

You're highly active so you might need >2500 for maintenance. Maybe start from there and then adjust week on week depending on what the scales and the mirror tell you? Remember, going high protein and fat and low carb (and zero "white carbs") is the safest in terms of fat gain.

Thanks for all the advice!

I think the gainer shake is doing quite a bit tbh, it is 1500 cals per serving. http://monstersupplements.com/store/p/4570/1/Inner-Armour-Hard-Mass---15lb.html

Theres a link.

I will look at getting some spinnach in, quite like it now. Is it much more expensvie than lettuce as I'm getting through a fair few of them.

Im using milk before bed as I heard it releases the protein slower overnight. Sorry not skimmed, semi skimmed as it's what the family uses. Might look into a proper bedtime shake later on.


When I say overhead press I mean DB shoulder press. TBH I thought my shoulders have been progressing more than anything, will look into some face pulls none the less

--

I think the before pics I was still carrying a similar amount of fat the pics just don't show it as much. I have always had a bit of a belly and started doing cardio after christmas, then thought screw it why not bulk now and worry about that later.

Shoulder presses I have just moved onto the 18kg dumbels, 8x3 , failing on about 6/7th rep of last set.

Lat raise I have just started using the 10kg DBs.


Thanks again!

In that case it's possible that you're lifting with your shoulders/tris too much, as your shoulders shouldn't be basically as strong as your chest. See how it goes when you've done lighter weights on your chest for a couple of weeks with nice slow reps to find the form.

Looking at the breakdown of that mass gainer, I'd say it was largely superfluous for your goals. Very high in carbs and low-ish in protein is just going to make you put on fat, and even if your metabolism evens that effect out you're still left at square one. Yes, it does mean you're getting a good amount of calories in a day, but you can do better with more protein and less carbs. It's also very over priced for what it is, you get more or less the same thing by bulk buying Myproteins whey and instant oats.

Looking back at your diet it should be quite easy to remove the mass gainer.

Have the pharma whey (x2) with breakfast
Have slightly bigger servings of meat with other meals
Pharma whey (x2) after gym

As for pre-bed, it isn't the end of the world to have milk, but just be aware that it may be causing some fat gain/retention. What slows down absorbtion is the fat in milk (another reason not to use the mass gainer after the gym), so that and the peanut butter will sort you out in that regard.

If you do decide to use Myprotein, you can use this code for 5% off your first order: MP96516

 

[BennyC]

Doesn't look like enough to me.

I don't know how you came to that conclusion without him explaining his volume or intensity?

15 20 25 30 35 40 kg goes up in 5kg for big compounds or 2.5kg for smaller isolation work.

I wouldn't agree with that. If the weight you're using isn't particularly heavy, there's no need to drop it down too far. 65kg was my 15rm, but starting at 35kg would've been ridiculously light for squats!

Beat me to it. There's no point using a load that isn't going to be benificial. Big compounds I increased 2.5KG per workout. Where the load was quite heavy generally and increasing 2.5Kg each time would see me performing the 5's with the same load I finished 10's on I increased the load every 2 workouts.

For example:

OHP finished on 55KG x 10. My 5RM was 65KG, by your method of a 2.5KG increase I'd start my 5's on 52.5KG, lighter than what I finished my 10's with, so this would be a regressive load. So instead I am using 60KG for 2 workouts, then 62.5KG and finishing on 65KG for the final 2 workouts.

 

[LiE]

I assumed he would mention if he was doing something out of ordinary with his exercises if it was applicable. Chest/Biceps sounds like a normal split, I was just surprised to see only 2 exercises, which I'd prefer to expand out to include more even if it means tailoring the volume per exercise.

 

[burtie]

Oh well I'm doing it wrong then or I'm doing it as its set out on he HST website.

Then, in 5-10 pound increments, assign weights in decreasing fashion starting from the last workout working backward to the first. So, for example, if your 10 rep max is 200 pounds, assign 200 pounds for the last workout of the 10 rep block, then assign weights that build up to your max in 6 workouts. For our example, using 5 pound increments, the weights for the whole 2 week block would be 175,180,185,190,195, and 200.

5lbs=2.5kg 10lbs=5kg

 

[Psycho Sonny]

cheers guys, seems a bit of a weird system.

so my max now will still be my max in 2 weeks. ive always been told to add weight, but with this system, im just building up to the same weight i can already do.

 

[MoNkeE]

The difference being, your 15rm is exactly that - the most weight you can rep 15 times. This is NOT 2 sets of 15 reps, it is ONE set of 15 reps. When calculating your 15rm, if you can do 2 sets of it straight away, it's not your 15rm

The aim is that at the end of the 2 week session, you'll be able to endure doing two full sets of your 15rm, so it will be an increase of strength and endurance. Does that make sense?