*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

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On my 3rd day of DOMs from squats, only had a week off too because of back. Gonna get some mobility exercies in my routine and pick up a ball before I start Deadlifts again! :D Hopefully doing squats while I heal, wont make me lose too much strength in my deadlifts.
 
icecold said:
Getting better, but still some problems.

1) Knees still come too far forward and you're not sitting back quite enough.

Seems like it's a hamstring problem. Stretch them, but with the stretches in the mobility thread as conventional ones are rubbish. Probably glutes too, but I'll get to them.
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I'll look at the mobility thread, I did those stretches you mentioned the other day, not sure if they helped or not.

One thing to note, I do SLDL's before squats...Would this 'tighten' my hamstrings due to them being used and 'pumped'?...

icecold said:
2) Tiny bit of extension in your back at the bottom of your reps.

You're doing this to hit depth. This is due to tightness in your posterior chain (glutes and hams).
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Good point...Is this where my lower back kind of gives in at the bottom? I feel thiss once I go past a certain point, it's purely so I go lower, so something isn't right. :(

I'll have to look up posterior chain tightness then, which sucks. If you know of any videos off the top of your head then link them and ill look today :)

icecold said:
3) Weak hips. Little glute recruitment and pretty unstable.

I assumed I mentioned it to you already, but do glute exercises and activation stuff. Glute bridges, pull throughs, bird dogs, walking/reverse lunges (not the type where you step forward). It looks like you don't fully grasp what I mean by using your glutes. Look at my video again and see what the top of my rep looks like; big glute contraction causing my hips to move forward rapidly. Essentially, you need to "air hump" :o
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LiE pointed out about my lack of Glute use, so i'm defo going to be air humping next session.

Again, i'll have to look at the other things you mentioned...Should I be doing these on off days or? If I do all of this on the training day i'm going to end up being in there longer than I already am!


icecold said:
4) You need to be faster on the way up
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Aye, air-hump it is ;)

icecold said:
5) Your core doesn't seem to be braced. This is partly why you're a little unstable. You need to be braced solid, you'll lose a lot of power with a wobbly core. How do you brace your core? Squeeze abs and simultaneously try to push your belly out with your diaphragm (think of your abs as a belt your pushing in to, it shouldn't actually move out at all). This is why we don't need to work on our abs in isolation as much as people tend to think, provided people can use their core properly...
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Thanks, makes sense now. I try to brace my core, but I think it's lacking due to me thinking about everything else that i'm supposed to be doing :(...

Air-hump, push knees out, brace core, keep back tight, go deep. My lil brain can't keep up :o

icecold said:
Your knees aren't too bad, you just need to focus on them more.
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Yeah, they were better this time, but definitely room to improve :)

Thank you for the lengthy post, it's highly appreciated...I think I have all these issues as they've never been pointed out before, due to me training on my own (I've never actually been to a gym)

I swear other people don't have this many issues :o
 
Pushups are massively worthwhile. :)

There's literally no better exercise for the smaller muscles of the shoulder, such as supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles. "But they're on your back!" I hear you cry. Well, yes, but those muscles are responsible for holding your shoulder in the socket, and for rotation of the shoulder. Something that are both used in a pushup!

Explosive pushups are also great for the serratus, and will expand your ribcage to give you width and stretch your chest. They are also awesome for posture and core. You have to lock your core and keep a straight back to do them after all.

Just remember to try and keep those elbows close to your sides. :)
 
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Steedie said:
Don't want to say Zefan is wrong, but push ups can be a very good exercise to do

You certainly don't need the bars, unless already mentioned, you have wrist issues. But doing push ups at the end of a chest and tricep routine, or just a routine that involves either muscle group, is a fantastic way to completely exhaust them. You can even make them into an even better exercise by placing a weight on your back which will really give you a fantastic pump if done properly
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I did think they were more of a gimmick (the bars), then anything else, but thought I would check, just in case they were some new revolutionary thing that helped reduce injury or something weird. But yeah, I'll try and put them at the end of the routine more as well :)

Dj_Jestar said:
Pushups are massively worthwhile. :)

There's literally no better exercise for the smaller muscles of the shoulder, such as supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles. "But they're on your back!" I hear you cry. Well, yes, but those muscles are responsible for holding your should in the socket, and for rotation of the shoulder. Something that are both used in a pushup!

Explosive pushups are also great for the serratus, and will expand your ribcage to give you width and stretch your chest. They are also awesome for posture and core. You have to lock your core and keep a straight back to do them after all.

:)
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Interesting to know :) There were already part of the workout, but it is certainly interesting to learn of the extra muscles they're helping xD

kd
 
I use the bars at home due to my wrists, all those years of skateboarding (falling off) have ruined my wrists really :o
 
The bars are worth it too, imo. But I wouldn't spend any great deal of cash on them. Your wrist(s) will be under a lot of strain in a pushup, at a dangerous angle. The wrist is strongest when under pressure straight on (think of the position when doing pushups with fists/knuckles) and certainly not at 90 degrees+ when using palms :)
 
King Damager said:
I did think they were more of a gimmick (the bars), then anything else, but thought I would check, just in case they were some new revolutionary thing that helped reduce injury or something weird. But yeah, I'll try and put them at the end of the routine more as well :)
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I tend to use a barbell, keeping it still helps work your abs a tad more and it provides the same gripping position as those pushup handles :)
 
Vertical bars serve a different purpose to horizontal bar. Namely the angle at which your arms will fold. With vertical bars, your elbows will be close to your sides, whilst with horizontal, they'll be further out.
 
I sometimes do some push ups as a 'finisher' if I feel I need it after a chest workout. I use 10kg dumbells (hex shape so they're stable) as handles.

Start in a push-up position. Do 1 rep, pause at the top for two seconds, do 2 reps, pause for two seconds, do 3 reps, pause for two seconds. Try to get up to 10 reps, and then work your way back down.
If you can't make it to 10 reps, work up to 7 and then down, or 4 and then down.

It's absolutely brutal. I actually have a range of 'finishers' I use when I don't feel 100% destroyed.

Back day 'finisher' - Supine Row/Wide grip pull up negatives.
Leg day 'finisher' (VERY rare as it's just silly tbh) - Get on a exercise bike, set the seat one lower than it should be so you keep emphasis on quads. Set the resistance so high you can just about hit 60rpm, cycle for 5 minutes (or 3) keeping the rpm between 45-60 (lowering resistance as you go to keep it in this window).

I'm thinking about a shoulder finisher atm. Was thinking 10/15/20kg plate raise then press.
 
Nice! The negs on the pull ups would hurt, need to start doing more pull ups at home as I can't do them at the gym.

I'd be careful on the shoulder, dont want to over work it :)
 
Stomping session in the gym today; feeling strong. :cool: Going to change my routine now, if I can hold of WantonN!

Still can't do pull-ups though. :cool:
 
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