*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

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Skillmister said:
Thanks icecold, got myself some evening reading there :p
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:D sorry!

Do your homework :mad:

King Damager said:
Ok, I've got a couple of questions, and figured it was easiest to just ask them in here...

Firstly, I'm looking to incorporate some fast twitch muscle exercises into my workout routine, and am wondering what kind of exercises people would recommend. Obviously am looking for something as low impact as possible, but also a selection of exercises that will work out the major muscle groups.
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First of all, why? I'm guessing you have a more specific goal than just "train fast twitch fibers," so it's possible that your needs might be better served with other methods.

But to answer your question, there are various things you can do. It's generally about things that induce rapid force generation. I'm going to carefully ignore what you said about low impact ;) mostly because I don't know why it's a concern.

Firstly, outside the gym, look into doing plyometrics. This is things like jumping and explosive pushups, but there will be routines on the interwebs you can follow. Sprinting is another obvious avenue to pursue.

In the gym, the best thing to do would be olympic lifting, but since coaches aren't exactly easy to come by this is kind of tricky. Things like speed work on regular exercises are a decent alternative.

Also, going home at Christmas, and whilst I'm admittedly becoming more accustomed to going to the gym etc... due to the nature of Christmas I'll be at various places at various times etc... so can't really fit in a set schedule where I could go to the gym. I was therefore considering doing a number of bodyweight exercises. Thinking push ups/pull ups/squats without weights/planks etc... however, thought that these might not be particularly strenuous.
I was therefore considering, grabbing a decent rucksack (I have a few), and filling them with bags of sugar/potatoes/light weights/whatever I can find and just taking it around with me when I'm staying at others houses, and basically doing the exercises with the rucksack on. I am thinking however that this might not be the greatest of ideas, so thought I'd run it by the guys that know, and see what you think? For example will it require a slightly different change to form or something? I realise this may be a big no no, but frankly have no idea, and thought it was an ok idea if it isn't a big no no :)
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Seems like a reasonable idea, if you can be bothered. A good alternative would be to "pushup lunge pullup" or PLP.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/plp_the_60day_challenge
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Whilst I'm here, and bombarding people with questions :) (sorry!)



I did a quick search, and you seem to be predominantly referring to exercises outlined here:
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19212692&postcount=6

Whilst I already have 'plank' in my core routine, and will now certainly be adding Cat Vomit, I still only have on top of that some 'straight leg raises' (no idea what the actual name is), so was wondering if you could recommend a couple of exercises for when I don't have access to a gym or the such like that work on anti-rotation which I can do with free-weights (or without weights at all)...
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My default position when someone tells me they do planks is to assume they do them wrong, because I've NEVER seen anyone do them right. You need to be squeezing your glutes and abs so hard that you rotate your hips backwards. While backwards, or posterior hip tilt, is technically correct it doesn't help with visualising what's going on. Instead, think of squeezing your abs and glutes so the bottom of your hips goes towards the floor and up towards your head (obviously only slightly, or else something has gone horribly wrong). Your bum should be slightly higher than in line between your shoulders and feet, and you should end up with a slight arch in your lower back (like /\ rather than \/). Do that and you should feel like you're on fire after 30 seconds, if you don't you aren't squeezing hard enough.

Sorry about that slight diversion :o

Anti-rotation is hard without a gym. Your best bet is to buy some resistance bands which you could take anywhere and aren't too expensive (mobility thread has details).

^TANK^ said:
It wouldn't just be 25 reps of squats a week, there would be an additional 25 reps of leg pressing as well.
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Ok but that still isn't enough :p maybe just do 4x10 on the leg press
Looks awkward to me to be honest and if I don't enjoy something I tend to lose interest rapidly. Reverse leg curls I could stomach though.
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It is awkward, that's the whole point. Think of it as a test, no matter how big your leg press is (for example), you won't be able to use that power for anything practical (i.e. functional strength on more than just a leg press) unless you can control your core and stabilisers. It's the kind of exercise that you can't let your ego get involved in, the amount I can squat compared to the weights I'm using for lunges is silly, but I know that this is a problem to be rectified. You should see it in the same way if you want strength from your workout.
I had a bad experience a while ago that gave me a strained rotator cuff, as my spotter didn't grab the sixty kilo dumbbells off of me quickly enough on my last set of dumbbell chest presses. Shortly after that I began to strengthen my rotator cuffs using a 5 kilo dumbbell doing 3x10 lying dumbbell internal/external rotations, 3x10 front raises and 3x10 standing internal/external rotations with a cable machine. These rotator cuff strengthening exercises helped me a great deal.
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I'm not saying what I'm saying just for the sake of it, the shoulder REALLY doesn't work like that. Most people don't even know what their rotator cuff is, let alone what it does or how to manipulate it for better shoulder health. In your case I obviously don't know what actually happened, but unless you had a tear or dislocation the rotator cuff work you did won't have helped as much as you think, if anything the external rotation stuff you did might have gently stretched out your internal rotators/anterior delt (I'm assuming that you over stretched your anterior delt under load from the DB...).

Injuries are caused by poor positioning. If your shoulder joint is being pulled out of position by tight tissues, you can end up resting almost the entire load on these already sensitive tissues, which is exactly how blow outs can happen.

Regardless, front and side raises are not good rotator cuff exercises.
I was shrugging between 320-350 kilos with good form with straps. Although my grip and shoulders were getting results my forearms weren't increasing that much and when you have 21 inch arms that looks odd!

More aesthetically pleasing to the eye is my reasoning.
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:p I wasn't trying to get into a "look at how much I lift" exchange, my point was that using straps (and hooks, iirc) will stop your drip and therefore your forearms developing. Shrugging 350kg with straps will do almost nothing for your grip.

If you don't use straps on anything but shrugs, your forearms will grow fast enough.
Please could you link me to a good romanian deadlift video and a SLDL video? As every video I look at vary in form.
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http://www.allthingsgym.com/2011/06/uncle-rippetoe-explains-romanian.html

SLDL is very similar, but done to the floor or blocks if you aren't flexible enough. Back straight for both!
To be honest I have never thought about it, although I have seen them on youtube and television training with a leg press.
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Maybe, but only as an accessory to more functional movements.
I can see how confusing my goals sound, I just want to look like a beast but with the strength of a beast lol.
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haha :D well that's not what you said originally :)

That's fine, but you still don't need girlie movements like forearm curls or the pec deck ;)
 
Steedie said:
I may get accused of using serious broscience here, but worrying about only doing 45 minutes isn't a bad thing. Ideal workout time should be 40-50 minutes

But nothing wrong with a 4 day split either, tis what I follow :)
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Totally depends on what you're doing.

Big squat session with 6 working sets and a thorough warm up can take 45 mins :o Although my squat warmup tends to also be fairly general.

But for bodybuilding, yeah I agree. There's obviously room for a middle ground too.
 
icecold said:
http://www.allthingsgym.com/2011/06/uncle-rippetoe-explains-romanian.html
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Brilliant thank you, I like Mark Rippetoe's detailed desciptions on exercises!

So with the idea of wanting to look like a beast but with the strength of a beast does this look better?

Monday

Chest:
Incline Bench Press 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Chest Dips 3x10
Biceps:
EZ Bar Curls 3x10
Concentration Curls 3x10


Wednesday

Legs:
Squats 5x5
RDL's 5x5
Leg Press 3x10
Shoulders:
Standing Military Press 5x5
Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raise (sides) 3x10
Lateral cable raises on an incline bench (rear) 3x10
Dumbbell Shrugs 3x10

Friday

Back:
Wide Grip Pull Ups 5x5
Deadlifts 5x5
BOR's 3x10
Seated Close Grip Pull Downs 3x10
One Arm Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Triceps:
High Pulley Overhead Tricep Extensions 3x10
Skull crushers. 3x10
 
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Much better yes.

Just be careful with the front dumbbell raises, as FF pointed out your front delts are getting hit quite a lot already (incline bench, bench, dips, military press). Try it how it is and then remove them if you feel like they're being stimulated out of proportion.

Actually, on your leg day I'd substitute the leg curls for leg press (with lots of volume). Otherwise you've got two hamstring dominant exercises (RDL and curls).

When are you going to start? I remember you saying you were looking into various gyms...
 
icecold said:
Much better yes.

Just be careful with the front dumbbell raises, as FF pointed out your front delts are getting hit quite a lot already (incline bench, bench, dips, military press). Try it how it is and then remove them if you feel like they're being stimulated out of proportion.

Actually, on your leg day I'd substitute the leg curls for leg press (with lots of volume). Otherwise you've got two hamstring dominant exercises (RDL and curls).

When are you going to start? I remember you saying you were looking into various gyms...
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Ok leg press thrown back in at 3x10 and reverse leg curls removed and I'll lose the front shoulder raises. I'll be starting in the new year at some point probably going with Virgin Active.
 
Tank, why not substitute in rear delt raises now you've removed the front ones? Doesn't look like you're doing a whole lot else to work those. Alternatively, face pulls.

Also your biceps alone are getting more volume during the week than your legs... Could do with some more adjustment in my opinion.

For what it's worth, here's my routine. Keeping it simple.

Mon/Wed/Fri

Deadlift/SLDL (alternate each workout)
Pullup
Bench
Dips


Tue/Thur

Back Squat/Front Squat (alternative each workout)
OHP
Heel Raise
Hammerup


Each week I alternate between 4x 10 and 5x 5 on all exercises (with the exception of 4x 5 and 5x 3 on pullups/hammerups respectively so I can add more weight).
 
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