*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

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Something I wanted to run past you guys. I'll keep it short.

I went back to the gym about 8 months after a massive shoulder injury. My weight was 115kg. Not fat, just big. Because I wasn't training, I watched my food intake very carefully and never gained fat, I just got ... heavier. Anyway, fast forward 8 months and I now weigh in at 100.8kg. This I cannot understand, I eat like a dinosaur, train like one, my muscles are getting bigger and thicker, yet I keep dropping weight. I don't do much cardio apart from jogging to the gym and back (2miles in total).

What weight am I losing and why am I losing it? In the early years, if I trained, I gained muscles and got heavier. Now I'm gaining muscle still (t shirts are getting tighter and getting comments) but my weight is dropping. Just the past 10 days I lost 3kg. Baffles me a bit.
 
Losing water perhaps. You may also be living in a calorie deficit even though you don't realise it; weights will burn a lot of calories during and after a work out, combined with your jogging, will be burning a fair amount I bet.

Eating 2500 calories can still seem like a lot, especially when padded out with veg, so you may find you're burning more than you're consuming. Muscles getting 'bigger' will most likely just be your body becoming leaner, so they're more prominent.
 
Kazz said:
Probably a daft question, but I'm only just starting out :). When he refers to "squat below parallel"...what does that actually mean? Is it when the upper leg is horizontal?
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Parallel is in reference to your thigh being parallel with the ground. For all the reasons mentioned in that article, I've just never understood why people would stop "half way" down. In every other lift, stopping like that is just not done, yet for squats a lot of people consider parallel "deep enough".

For me, I always, 100% of the time squat as deep as I can when doing "normal squats" (obviously partials have their place, like hitting sticking points) so I never have to be concerned about if I've gone deep enough or not. My hamstrings touch my calves, and that's a "squat" in my opinion, same for bench, I always touch my chest with the bar before pushing back up. I think you're just letting yourself, and your potential down by skimping on the range of motion.

/waffle :p
 
Frozo said:
I'll give that a miss then :p

I'm buying a bike soon so doing that as well instead of running.

I would feel embarrassed at the gym that's why I was looking at getting some things for home (Already have weights)
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i dont understand this mentality of being embarrassed about going to a gym, all of the people are at the gym for the exact same reason you are, its a bit like saying i would be embarrassed to go to a STD clinic, all the other people there are there for the same reason too, apart from the doctors.

therefore there will be a lot of different types of people in the gym, some like you and others not like you, if you feel embarrassed about going to the gym, why do you even bother to leave your house? do you not fear being mocked whilst you walk down the street?

be a man and grow a pair, sorry if all of the above sounds harsh, but you need a reality check. if anything, you will get a lot of support and help whilst at the gym, especially if your a beginner, only the idiot bicep boys may mock you, but their opinion isn't worth ****. cardio equipment is extremely expensive for home use, the decent stuff anyway, concept 2 rowers are £1.2K starting price for the newest models. Treadmills will be roughly the same, a bike you could get for a couple of hundred, but tbh cycling does **** all, its good as a warm up or cool down, but thats it. 1 hour of cycling is probably the same as 20 mins on a rower or treadmill. cycling is better than nothing though, if you wanna go down that route go for it, but other forms of cardio are much better.

running outside and skipping are free in comparison, and much better than a bike.
 
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Psycho Sonny said:
i dont understand this mentality of being embarrassed about going to a gym, all of the people are at the gym for the exact same reason you are, its a bit like saying i would be embarrassed to go to a STD clinic, all the other people there are there for the same reason too, apart from the doctors.

therefore there will be a lot of different types of people in the gym, some like you and others not like you, if you feel embarrassed about going to the gym, why do you even bother to leave your house? do you not fear being mocked whilst you walk down the street?

be a man and grow a pair, sorry if all of the above sounds harsh, but you need a reality check. if anything, you will get a lot of support and help whilst at the gym, especially if your a beginner, only the idiot bicep boys may mock you, but their opinion isn't worth ****. cardio equipment is extremely expensive for home use, the decent stuff anyway, concept 2 rowers are £1.2K starting price for the newest models. Treadmills will be roughly the same, a bike you could get for a couple of hundred, but tbh cycling does **** all, its good as a warm up or cool down, but thats it. 1 hour of cycling is probably the same as 20 mins on a rower or treadmill. cycling is better than nothing though, if you wanna go down that route go for it, but other forms of cardio are much better.

running outside and skipping are free in comparison, and much better than a bike.
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Well if you've been going to the gym all the time it's different for you, you're probably bigger built than me.

I'm going to walk in there for my first time and be like okay lets start here and if I start with the lower weights / smaller ones then I'm going to be an idiot and people are going to think ahah he can't lift anything heavier than that.

I leave my house because I have a life to live, and no I don't. It's different than going to the gym, yeah they might be going to do the same as me but as you've said some people are already fitter than I am.

Well going on my own is going to be nervous I'm a shy person as it is and don't really speak to many people other than who I know and the friends I ask to go to the gym with me always say no but my cousin said he would be then he would try and be the 'bigger person' and try and show off.

I know what you're saying but it's hard for someone who's just starting out and is not very confident, It's not a gym bike it was a normal bike :p
 
Psycho Sonny said:
1 hour of cycling is probably the same as 20 mins on a rower or treadmill. cycling is better than nothing though, if you wanna go down that route go for it, but other forms of cardio are much better.
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Can't agree with that at all. In a sort of pound for pound way, perhaps cycling cant match rowing/running, but some people would be able to exercise for much longer on a bike with perhaps greater overall intensity than they could run for. Put it this way; I'm off to the Alps next week where I can guarantee you that when I cross the Grand St Bernard pass ( about an hours cycle) I will burn at least twice the calories that you could ever manage on a rower or by running (certainly more than I could ever burn running). It all depends how you use a piece of cardio equipment rather than just placing a black and white judgement on it like that.
 
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Frozo said:
Well if you've been going to the gym all the time it's different for you, you're probably bigger built than me.

I'm going to walk in there for my first time and be like okay lets start here and if I start with the lower weights / smaller ones then I'm going to be an idiot and people are going to think ahah he can't lift anything heavier than that.

I leave my house because I have a life to live, and no I don't. It's different than going to the gym, yeah they might be going to do the same as me but as you've said some people are already fitter than I am.

Well going on my own is going to be nervous I'm a shy person as it is and don't really speak to many people other than who I know and the friends I ask to go to the gym with me always say no but my cousin said he would be then he would try and be the 'bigger person' and try and show off.

I know what you're saying but it's hard for someone who's just starting out and is not very confident, It's not a gym bike it was a normal bike :p
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Dude, I started back in the gym weighing 110+ kg lifting weights that people a 3rd of my size warmed up with. You there doing it for YOU. You don't have to talk to anyone or even make eye contact. Seriously, stop giving a **** what people think about you. Other people's opinions about me doesn't even register in my brain. YOU know what you're about. You're doing it for yourself, your health and your loved ones.

I think more about a trier that's clearly a first timer than a steroid junkie with 27' arms stomping about, being an irritation to everyone. I'm quick to offer a smile or advice if I feel a newbie can use it. Trust me, 95% of the people there will ignore you, the other 5% 'may' look once or twice and then forget about you. You'll be just another guy there.
 
Frozo said:
Well if you've been going to the gym all the time it's different for you, you're probably bigger built than me.

I'm going to walk in there for my first time and be like okay lets start here and if I start with the lower weights / smaller ones then I'm going to be an idiot and people are going to think ahah he can't lift anything heavier than that.

I leave my house because I have a life to live, and no I don't. It's different than going to the gym, yeah they might be going to do the same as me but as you've said some people are already fitter than I am.

Well going on my own is going to be nervous I'm a shy person as it is and don't really speak to many people other than who I know and the friends I ask to go to the gym with me always say no but my cousin said he would be then he would try and be the 'bigger person' and try and show off.

I know what you're saying but it's hard for someone who's just starting out and is not very confident, It's not a gym bike it was a normal bike :p
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as i said before, there will be other guys in the exact same position as you in the gym, they are all there for the same reason, nobody is going to laugh at you and the people who work there, the instructors are there for help and advice, if you have a problem with anything, speak to one of them.

anybody in the gym, should be too busy with their own workouts to even notice you, if i was at a gym the only people i would be looking at in between my breaks are the fit women there, not you. as said before, just go, there will be no issues and a lot of the people there will give you help and offer advice if you ask.
 
Clum said:
Can't agree with that at all. In a sort of pound for pound way, perhaps cycling cant match rowing/running, but most people would be able to exercise for much longer on a bike with perhaps greater overall intensity than they could run for. Put it this way; I'm off to the Alps next week where I can guarantee you that when I cross the Grand St Bernard pass ( about an hours cycle) I will burn at least twice the calories that you could ever manage on a rower or by running. It all depends how you use a piece of cardio equipment rather than just placing a black and white judgement on it like that.
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the reason why you can cycle for longer, is because its easier.

rowing full body - cycling legs.

what if only have 1 hour in the gym? and i need to do some weights as well? would i be better off doing weights for 5 mins and do 55 mins of cycling or weights for 45 mins and 15 mins of rowing?
 
kylew said:
Parallel is in reference to your thigh being parallel with the ground. For all the reasons mentioned in that article, I've just never understood why people would stop "half way" down. In every other lift, stopping like that is just not done, yet for squats a lot of people consider parallel "deep enough".

For me, I always, 100% of the time squat as deep as I can when doing "normal squats" (obviously partials have their place, like hitting sticking points) so I never have to be concerned about if I've gone deep enough or not. My hamstrings touch my calves, and that's a "squat" in my opinion, same for bench, I always touch my chest with the bar before pushing back up. I think you're just letting yourself, and your potential down by skimping on the range of motion.

/waffle :p
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I'm not entirely sure how you can criticise an entire internationally recognised standard, but please feel free to post a video of your superior squats.
 
regulus said:
Dude, I started back in the gym weighing 110+ kg lifting weights that people a 3rd of my size warmed up with. You there doing it for YOU. You don't have to talk to anyone or even make eye contact. Seriously, stop giving a **** what people think about you. Other people's opinions about me doesn't even register in my brain. YOU know what you're about. You're doing it for yourself, your health and your loved ones.

I think more about a trier that's clearly a first timer than a steroid junkie with 27' arms stomping about, being an irritation to everyone. I'm quick to offer a smile or advice if I feel a newbie can use it. Trust me, 95% of the people there will ignore you, the other 5% 'may' look once or twice and then forget about you. You'll be just another guy there.
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Psycho Sonny said:
as i said before, there will be other guys in the exact same position as you in the gym, they are all there for the same reason, nobody is going to laugh at you and the people who work there, the instructors are there for help and advice, if you have a problem with anything, speak to one of them.

anybody in the gym, should be too busy with their own workouts to even notice you, if i was at a gym the only people i would be looking at in between my breaks are the fit women there, not you. as said before, just go, there will be no issues and a lot of the people there will give you help and offer advice if you ask.
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I'll have to have a look into how much it costs for Gym Membership as I know there is one about 10 - 15mins walk away from my house which is good.

I want to start swimming as well but the swimming baths around here are pretty rubbish,

I'm going to have to start somewhere I suppose
 
Psycho Sonny said:
the reason why you can cycle for longer, is because its easier.
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What? Something is as easy as you make it

what if only have 1 hour in the gym? and i need to do some weights as well? would i be better off doing weights for 5 mins and do 55 mins of cycling or weights for 45 mins and 15 mins of rowing?
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Well it depends on what you are trying to achieve doesn't it.
 
Just gone back today my self. Did chest and biceps along with wrist curls as directed by surgen as due an op end of July.

I havent been for 2 months due to personal reasons.

Before that i was stacked, 17'' arms, 6 pack, tracks that made me need to wear xl shirts and a weight of 90Kg.

It's all been lost which is scary how fast i came off me and no more 6 pack, spent 2 months laying down and eating junk all my own fault.

Tomrorow is a 6 mile run then 9 mile bike ride as it's a gym rest day.

I've cut sugar in my tea and on my breakfast, stoped eating cake, biscuts and chocolate and anything else i should as of Monday this week. Feeling better for it already.

Going to add fruit to my shakes and blend as i hate fruit but it's getting into me then.

Also started to eat yougerts now to help the tummy

Going to get her that shall not be nammed to take some photos of me now and measure so i can check back in 4 weeks.

Tuesday and Thursday nights i'll be doing Kettle bell again, my mate run a club here and i did some photos for him and his giving me 2 months free. The snatch burns 21 cals a min and i use to swing doing snatch for a good 30 mins solid with 16kg by then my elbow had enough.

Im going for all out right on it again as i miss the rush from doing it, the feel, the burn, pump, pain and looks after. Also the women at my gym are hot! Yummy mumies (milfs) an very sexy young office women.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
the reason why you can cycle for longer, is because its easier. rowing full body - cycling legs.
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Again, it depends on the effort you're putting in. To say cycling is only for the legs is naive at best. Get your backside out the saddle and into a solid hour of huge gradient climbing and come back to me with your findings. You use your entire body to power yourself up those slopes.

Psycho Sonny said:
what if only have 1 hour in the gym? and i need to do some weights as well? would i be better off doing weights for 5 mins and do 55 mins of cycling or weights for 45 mins and 15 mins of rowing?
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you do what works for your personal needs of course. My point was it's stupid to categorise into black and white that one piece of equipment is categorically better than another, as you don't know everyone else's needs/strong points.
 
Can anyone recommend some good value straps for deadlifts? Or are they all much the same?
I'm getting really frustrated at my tiny girl hands being the weak link so wanna get strapped up. I'll still continue to train grip elsewhere (static hangs/heavy gripz/back days).

EDIT: Scratch that I don't want girly forearms just gonna put up with it for a bit longer and see what happens.
 
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