*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

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This is about the best deal you'll get at the moment new. 145 should do you for a good while and the bar is 320 rated for future expansion. Don't waste your time with standard 1" bar/plates as they have a weight limit of about 120kg, and are roughly the same price as oly plates anyway. Alternatively if you're one of these people who aren't going to take it seriously, then you may as well get a 30 quid vinyl set from Argos.

http://www.powerhouse-fitness.co.uk/bodymax-olympic-rubber-radial-barbell-kit-145kg.php
 
Some videos!

Squats from monday:
4th set of 4x4x192.5kg

Fairly pleased, knees collapse slightly on the last rep but that's just some fatigue, wasn't happening in earlier sets.

Deadlifts from today:
Second set of 3x3x222.5kg

First rep is miserable, second spot on, third pretty rubbish! First set was much better, failed the third but made up the reps (so overall it was 2x3, 1x1, 1x2). Strength is there but I'm still suffering slightly in my lower back from strongman training a week ago. Wish I'd filmed the first set because it was easy in comparison. Time for some lacrosse ball in high glute action :cool:
 
That's not too wide really, I used to consider mine quite narrow but its only just inside that now. My brother is just a bit of freak when it comes to squatting :). I'm sure you will but take it lighter than usual when you try a new stance or new form, when you aren't used to something it is obviously harder and less comfortable.
 
icecold said:
Still much to learn, grasshopper! ;)

It's generally best to tend towards doing harder exercises first. In the case of your workout:

deads
pullups
BOR
lat pull down
bicep stuff

Unless you're specifically pre-exhausting a muscle, don't do isolation exercises before compounds. In the case of biceps with back, I don't think I would ever pre-exhaust my biceps because you're just making the weakest link in the chain weaker.
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Thanks for that helpful info - same will have to be said for my next workout day which will be Legs/Shoulders.

I'm looking to do:

Box Squat 5x5
Leg Press 5x5
SLDL 5x5
Standing Calf Raise 5x5
Seated Calf Raise 5x5

Shoulder Press 8x3
Side Lat Raise 8x3
Front Raise 8x3
Shrugs 8x3

Although it does look like quite a long workout - which may become counter-Productive - I'm wondering if I'm better off having a dedicated Shoulder day?
 
Hot damn! That's some nice squatting Icecold!

I love that rack you have for it. A nice clean derack and back step and bam ready.

My gym's rack is similar to the red one in your deadlifting vid, only the bars curl up and it's damn annoying for my short-self to get it out.
 
The rack we usually use for squatting when my brother is home from uni is the power rack in my squat videos, I much prefer it to the squat rack you mentioned because the heights of the catchers and the pins are a lot more forgiving. It also helps that the power rack has a mirror in front of it which I like to use to check form and positioning and I just like checking myself out :p
 
Cheers guys, it's all going quite well at the moment (...ignoring the slight deadlift blip). I'm hopefully at a >220kg squat now.

Mansize, squat stance is a very individual thing. I go that wide because that's where I'm strong while still being able to get depth comfortably. Some people find narrower easier, but I've trained with tight hips for a long time so have developed a "groove". An experienced lifter might be able to tell you from watching you squat, but in the absence of that just try different things out. Videoing helps too. If you try wider, be extra careful of your knees collapsing.

Nightmare, yeah that rack is pretty awesome despite the slightly "fun house" mirror that distorts you. Unfortunately that's not where I normally train. It was a back up gym because of bank holiday closures, and actually it's only redeeming quality is it's squat rack ;) My usual "home" gym is pretty good, but my Uni gym is quite poor and I run into the same problems you're having with an up-and-back unracking manoeuvre :/

Gamefreak, test it out and see how tired you are and how long it takes. Also, I'd prefer SLDL before leg press personally, leg press is "easier".
 
I'd love a normal squat rack.

The benches at the gym I'm at have the same "catchers" as the squat rack and that makes it even harder to bench.

They have one bench that doesn't have them, it only has one catcher and it's perfect. Sadly it's much sought after.

One of the reasons I go at 1pm so I can avoid as many people using the stuff.

My legs are still really sore from those free squats I was doing. That was Thursday, they still hurt and stretching feels impossible, they're sooo sore haha. I hate the stairs in my house at the moment.
 
Tried front squats today because back ones were giving me back pain. the back pain seems to be a lot better with these :) however I need to get more flexibility in my wrists. I looked on the crossfit website and behind the back praying is a good way to do it. Any other suggestions?
 
collisster said:
Tried front squats today because back ones were giving me back pain. the back pain seems to be a lot better with these :) however I need to get more flexibility in my wrists. I looked on the crossfit website and behind the back praying is a good way to do it. Any other suggestions?
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I do them cross arm - got to be a little careful not to let your elbows go to high so it rolls back onto your windpipe, but generally all good!
 
official home gym building thread is up, this is all i could salvage from the backup before my computer died and then i lost interest due to the amount of time i had put into it before i lost most of it.

im missing a lot of sections, etc.

a section on matting and dumbells is needed badly, i will try to do as soon as possible, if anyone else wants to chip in, please do so, probably best to email me the stuff, rather than cluttering up other threads.

i also hope you all post pictures of your own home gyms in there, to give people an idea of what they look like when set up.
 
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