*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

[Brumboy]

I've done a lot of cross country running/football/tennis so my legs are quite muscley already! And I haven't completely neglected my legs, I trained them quite a lot in the summer so they're a decent size for my height/weight.

 

[Barks]

Can someone help me out please?

I'm getting really frustrated with gym work at the moment. I'm making huge progress on everything but my shoulders. I have been stuck for weeks on 22x8x3 db shoulder press and struggle to do even that. It's pathetic when for example I'm throwing around 36kg with my chest. I do the following regime:

Day 1: Chest & Triceps
Day 2: Legs & Abs
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Back & Mat Work (lower back exercises)
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Shoulders & Abs
Day 7: HIIT
Day 8: Rest

I try to completely murder each body part hence that regime.

Can anyone suggest something which will bolster my shoulder growth? Since finishing Uni and starting my job I've cut alcohol down hugely and eat a damn good diet so why are my shoulders letting me down?

Cheers

 

[Delvis]

yes

Eh?

Just run me over your routine roughly please?

RIGHT!!!! I'm peaved off now, my session was pretty poor to begind with...minus the fact I pratted about for 30 mins trying to get the bench thing in to some sort of decent incline position...still didn't work in the end.

I had to walk in to the gym to be confronted with this:

So that screwed my first ten minutes over

 

[Skillmister]

All i can say to that is at least you have a decent bench rack thing. Good luck trying to place the bar back with one of these after a hard set, especially as the 2 prongs are the same length (SHORT)


As for routine, basically this for 15s and 10s although i did mix up some of the numbers of sets a little.

5s i've taken out all the isolation to leave(minus the db bench now)

Something like this?

Squats
DL
BoR
Pullups
Flat BB bench
Inc DB press
Seated shoulder press
Dips

 

[icecold]

Thought i'd show people my poor squat :

65KG I believe:

Then this is 70KG I think, failed as well...not even 75KG which is my PB:

I always fail at the bottom, kind of common I guess, doesn't help not having spotters.

You aren't sitting back, at all, and are shifting the weight forward onto your toes. This means you aren't really using any of your posterior chain and thus making the whole movement weaker.

You need to be reaching back with your arse a if sitting down on something slightly too far away, and your shins should be staying almost vertical. Chest is up which is good, what UE is saying is that you're not really starting stood up. Break with the hips first maybe, but don't start with them broken.

Once this is sorted, we can talking about getting your glutes and hamstrings to wake the **** up

And for the record, you could have got that 70kg up.

This is what I mean by knees out - recorded just now for you showing my lovely legs (excuse the mess).

Note: I'm not sticking my ass out in this video as I just wanted to show knees.

Nice pins .

Great example, and nice paleo chair too.

This is what it looks like with a bar. It's my brother so he should be fine with me posting it. His form is 95% awesome, which isn't bad considering the rep PB going on. His box squatting is even better, might see if he'll post a video at some point.

Notice how it's not just about stopping your knees from coming in, but actively pushing them out

Possibly dude, although if I made the weight go back much further i'd topple backwards

Not done front squats, I find the positioning of the bar very odd...Although i've started doing some clean and press, and the initial press if more comfortable, so I may give that a go.

Cheers

EDIT: Thanks for the video Lie, my knees aren't going in.

Again, it's different information being thrown around, will let you know what happens next week...Although I could get a few reps out tonight, will see

The problem you might have with sitting back, as I've mentioned above, is that your hamstrings prevent you hitting depth. Try it with a light bar and see.

 

[GarethSouthgate]

@ that, Delvis. Doesn't take 10 ****ing seconds to put stuff back.

I get miffed when people cba to put weights back in order but it's not a major problem, leaving stuff around like that is just lazy and an accident waiting to happen.

I've done a lot of cross country running/football/tennis so my legs are quite muscley already! And I haven't completely neglected my legs, I trained them quite a lot in the summer so they're a decent size for my height/weight.

I see.

 

[GarethSouthgate]

Icecold - isn't he going down a bit too fast? I'm sure someone on here was picked up on the same thing when they posted a vid.

Regarding Delvis' vid, I'm glad you said he isn't sitting back, I thought the same too! Think I am getting close to nailing squat form now, I just wish dead lift was as easy.

 

[Delvis]

You aren't sitting back, at all, and are shifting the weight forward onto your toes. This means you aren't really using any of your posterior chain and thus making the whole movement weaker.

You need to be reaching back with your arse a if sitting down on something slightly too far away, and your shins should be staying almost vertical. Chest is up which is good, what UE is saying is that you're not really starting stood up. Break with the hips first maybe, but don't start with them broken.

Once this is sorted, we can talking about getting your glutes and hamstrings to wake the **** up

And for the record, you could have got that 70kg up.

Well, my toes aren't in use, as I tuck them up 9/10 times.

Talking about the vertical thing, please show me a video of you doing this, as you would just fall backwards?

How do you mean i'm not starting stood up? I really don't get this =/

I will keep an eye on my arse next time, I really don't see how I can change it that much without falling flat on my arse

This is what it looks like with a bar. It's my brother so he should be fine with me posting it. His form is 95% awesome, which isn't bad considering the rep PB going on. His box squatting is even better, might see if he'll post a video at some point.

Notice how it's not just about stopping your knees from coming in, but actively pushing them out

The problem you might have with sitting back, as I've mentioned above, is that your hamstrings prevent you hitting depth. Try it with a light bar and see.

Possibly, im not the most flexible of people to be honest.

Thanks for your input, it's all taken in Will post an update next week

 

[icecold]

I've done a lot of cross country running/football/tennis so my legs are quite muscley already! And I haven't completely neglected my legs, I trained them quite a lot in the summer so they're a decent size for my height/weight.

You will probably find that you just have low standards what constitute muscley legs

Legs should be part of everyone's gym routine. If you think running is good enough then you've clearly never done a 20 rep set of squats or 10x10 on a leg press with 60 seconds max rest.

Can someone help me out please?

I'm getting really frustrated with gym work at the moment. I'm making huge progress on everything but my shoulders. I have been stuck for weeks on 22x8x3 shoulder press and struggle to do even that. It's pathetic when for example I'm throwing around 36kg with my chest. I do the following regime:

Day 1: Chest & Triceps
Day 2: Legs & Abs
Day 3: Rest
Day 4: Back & Mat Work (lower back exercises)
Day 5: Rest
Day 6: Shoulders & Abs
Day 7: HIIT
Day 8: Rest

I try to completely murder each body part hence that regime.

Can anyone suggest something which will bolster my shoulder growth? Since finishing Uni and starting my job I've cut alcohol down hugely and eat a damn good diet so why are my shoulders letting me down?

Cheers

You seem to be talking about both, so here are a couple of simple rules for strength and size training. These are just simple and are not intended to cover every situation.

If your strength stalls, it could be because:
- Your rep range is wrong, do less reps
- You're training with too high a % of your max
- Your form is bad. Incomplete ROM to compensate for higher weight which allowed you to artificially increase the weight previously, or just generally bad so you're not using the right muscles
- You are in a calorie deficit
- You have imbalanced a joint by not having a balanced routine

If growth stalls, it could be because:
- You are not eating enough
- You are not eating enough protein
- Your reps are too low
- Your rest times are too high
- You are not exercising a body part sufficiently (not enough weight/volume, not enough exercise variety/bad exercise combos)

 

[Delvis]

@ that, Delvis. Doesn't take 10 ****ing seconds to put stuff back.

Tell me about it...Does my head in

And the people who apparently 'look after it' don't seem to give a rats arse

 

[Skillmister]

|Such an awesome training environment

 

[Barks]

Ice... Thanks for those pointers, much appreciated.

I've always been an advocate of perfecting form, in fact I get annoyed seeing kids in the gym doing it completely wrong - a classic being barbell bicep curls where people use their whole upper body and swing.

I'm sure diet wise I'm spot on. Perhaps I'd be better off doing a high-rep week every 3 weeks or so to provide a different stimulus? The whole point of the workout I'm doing is so I can hit each body part with a variety of different exercises.

 

[Saytan]

my gym looks pretty much like delvis's pic on a wednesday evening session. my fridays and sundays are fine though, even at the same times. Odd.

 

[icecold]

Well, my toes aren't in use, as I tuck them up 9/10 times.

Talking about the vertical thing, please show me a video of you doing this, as you would just fall backwards?

How do you mean i'm not starting stood up? I really don't get this =/

I will keep an eye on my arse next time, I really don't see how I can change it that much without falling flat on my arse



Possibly, im not the most flexible of people to be honest.

Thanks for your input, it's all taken in Will post an update next week

I mean that you start slightly bent over at the hip, and it looks like your knees are a little bent too.

I don't have a video already uploaded with an angle that shows it well, and it'll take a few days to film and upload a new one because I'll have to use my girlfriends internet mad. I'll try to remember though, earliest I can take it is friday, then maybe upload it over the weekend. There should be some good examples on youtube, search for powerlifting squats.

The problem you'll be having is simple movement programming - you're used to moving in the the way you are moving. A simple concept really, but one that requires some work and concentration to compensate for when you want to move differently. As an exercise, from now on every time you sit down try to keep your shins more vertical and to sit back (without using your hands to support you!). The same with standing up; knees out, drive up through the heals bringing your hips through underneath you.

 

[Brumboy]

Just got an email from myprotein, they are doing their first in-store trial at the Dudley Tesco which is 5 minutes from me! Apparentely they are giving away free tasters and samples including help & advice. Hopefully I'll be able to grab some decent stuff and if they actually sell their products there it will be really helpful

 

[Mansize_tissue]

scott212, what's your diet like?

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Crap deadlift session for me tonight. Managed another DOH PB but felt like I was using far more back than last week. Lats were also aching once I had finished which doesn't usually happen. Having said that my hamstrings are burning so it could just be a heavily fatigued back feeling it more than usual.

 

[Barks]

scott212, what's your diet like?

Typical day?

7.30am - 2 Poached Eggs, brown bread, fruit salad + Cappuccino
10am - Protein Shake, Banana
11-12am - Brazil Nuts/Avocado
1.30pm - Pasta dish with either fish or meat. That failing mackerel fillet and some sort of sandwich.
5pm - Training
6pm - Protein Shake
7.30pm - A huge dinner high in carbs/protein with salad e.g. tonight I did rice with prawns/onions/egg/tuna/mushrooms etc.
11.00pm - Either protein shake with milk or 200g Cottage cheese.

I would consider that to be a good diet but any suggestions for improvements would be appreciated!
Also, I would add I do have a fair bit of coffee around 3-5 cups a day (no sugar) and usually an espresso before the gym.

 

[icecold]

Icecold - isn't he going down a bit too fast? I'm sure someone on here was picked up on the same thing when they posted a vid.

Regarding Delvis' vid, I'm glad you said he isn't sitting back, I thought the same too! Think I am getting close to nailing squat form now, I just wish dead lift was as easy.

He does descend a little quicker than I would advise, but he's doing it for two pretty good reasons:

1) For him, the limiting factor on that set is leaning towards the cardio/muscular endurance end of the scale. Doing it faster slightly mitigates this.

2) He is able to do it faster than some because he is extremely well organised. There is a concept that Kelly Starrett talks about called "the tunnel", which is basically a metaphor which explains the following phenomenon:

In terms of positional awareness and control, there are effectively 3 parts to every lift. First is the set up, the second ("the tunnel") is somewhere in the middle, and the third is at the end of the rep back at the start point. We have complete control of how we set up and initiate the lift, but when we enter the tunnel there is very little we can do to correct our positioning, and we end up with a broken/faulted movement pattern.

The best defence against getting messed up in the tunnel is making sure the first part of the lift is a perfect as you can, because it's basically impossible to recover into a good movement pattern from a faulted set up and initiation of movement. Take those squats for example; he sets up with a tight back and core with his chest up and feet positioned nicely, then initiates the movement by sitting back and forcing his knees out. There is still some wobble, but it would be much worse ifthe first part of his lift wasn't so well organised. This allows him to rush his "tunnel" slightly.

I know that doesn't really directly help anyone, but hopefully it was interesting

|Such an awesome training environment

It's amazing, great bunch of guys down there.

Typical day?

7.30am - 2 Poached Eggs, brown bread, fruit salad + Cappuccino
10am - Protein Shake, Banana
11-12am - Brazil Nuts/Avocado
1.30pm - Pasta dish with either fish or meat. That failing mackerel fillet and some sort of sandwich.
5pm - Training
6pm - Protein Shake
7.30pm - A huge dinner high in carbs/protein with salad e.g. tonight I did rice with prawns/onions/egg/tuna/mushrooms etc.
11.00pm - Either protein shake with milk or 200g Cottage cheese.

I would consider that to be a good diet but any suggestions for improvements would be appreciated!
Also, I would add I do have a fair bit of coffee around 3-5 cups a day (no sugar) and usually an espresso before the gym.

I think, regardless of how good that seems (can't tell fully without a macronutrient breakdown...breakfast is a little sparse though), we can't ignore the fact that usually when someone stops growing they need to eat more. Try doubling up your shake post workout or add another one during the day and add some more nuts.

Unless there is something dodgy going on in your shoulder, it's very likely to be something on the list I posted. In your shoes I'd go through each possibility with an open mind.

 

[Psymonkee]

OK so I managed to get the stuck collar off without any WD40/heat or anything fancy but it wasn't pretty - I had to open the collar and slowly twist it off the sleeve. As a result the sleeve is all scratched up and I'm not keen to use the collars on it again in case I end up in the same situation.

What should I do for now though? As I've previously stated the other sleeve is perfect with all my collars which suggests the one I've had issues with is poorly manufactured and has come out marginally too big.

Strip the bar down and see if I can get a better fit?

Get a new bar that isn't made to funny sizes?

Ultimately I'm going to get some Lockjaw collars but that will need to wait till payday....