*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

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ergonomics said:
for those of you who do enjoy your PWO carbs... and are on a bit of a bulk. Pizza Express are doing a deal - £25 for 2x starters, 2x mains, 2x deserts... tempted :P
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£25 per head, not bad :p

I've no shame in ordering two mains, regardless of where we are. When you gotta eat you gotta eat.
 
BennyC said:
£25 per head, not bad :p

I've no shame in ordering two mains, regardless of where we are. When you gotta eat you gotta eat.
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but along with 2 starters and 2 deserts? 1 desert you can get away with claiming its your post workout insulin spike... but 2 :p ? be looking at a good 3500 kcal.




gotta eat big to get big :D
 
The Craig said:
Why do the cardio before the weights routine and have your weights routine suffer? Do it after.
(Thats if you mean doing it directly before weights)
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Hey,

Having done this for 3 or so weeks now, my workout routine really isn't suffering at all.

The reason I do it before is because I'll be hit with a strong case of 'cba' after doing the weights.

Is it better to do it after for any particular reason otherwise?
 
TommyV said:
Hey,

Having done this for 3 or so weeks now, my workout routine really isn't suffering at all.

The reason I do it before is because I'll be hit with a strong case of 'cba' after doing the weights.

Is it better to do it after for any particular reason otherwise?
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pretty sure you're running low on glycogen after doing a weights routine thus burning more fat if you do it afterwards as well.
 
Originally posted by: TommyV
Hey,

Having done this for 3 or so weeks now, my workout routine really isn't suffering at all.

The reason I do it before is because I'll be hit with a strong case of 'cba' after doing the weights.

Is it better to do it after for any particular reason otherwise?
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I think I've had quite allot of experience in the cardio + weights scene, since thats pretty much what I did for around 2.5 years. I went into the gym, I did abs for 20 mins with about 5 exercises, then I did cardio for 1 to 2 hours and then did weights, I never had a problem doing it that way.

But everyone is different, maybe you'll be weakened by doing cardio before weights, so maybe just do 10-20 mins tops and dont over-do it.

People have always said to me that I should do cardio afterwards, and I've tried, but I've seriously got no energy after weights.

Also I have one more thing to add, a positive thing I have found by doing cardio first is that the cardio actually makes me feel amazing! When I come off the tredmill or crosstrainer, my brain and body is like "RIGHT!!! LETS DO THIS!!!" as I walk over to the weight section...it's like I'm full of energy and feel amazing because of chemicals in my brain, endorphins or whatever.

You know like those times when you go into gym with no energy as well, I force myself to do cardio, and half an hour later I've snapped out of it, and now feel amazing, and have a great workout. Thats why I just ignore that feeling now in my head, because I know its a mental thing, and if you just go to gym and push through it, you actually get surprised by how good a workout you actually have. It's like the brain plays tricks on you sometimes.

I've had some of the best workouts ever when I've initially felt tired or not in the mood before entering the gym.

I don't know the technical stuff but this is my experience and how I feel when I do cardio+weights. I dont do as much cardio anymore, I just do 20 mins before my workout and thats it. But I'll probably go back to doing an hours cardio the next time I'm cutting.
 
How many wide grip pull ups should I be able to do before adding weight?
I can crack off about 10 in a row or do 5x3 now. much better than a couple of months ago.

Also I cannot seem to get my squatting form correct. I dropped all the weight off but no improvement, I feel like I'm going to fall over backwards and that I am bending at the hip to much so that my chest almost touches my knees.

Help please!

thanks
 
TommyV said:
Hey,

Having done this for 3 or so weeks now, my workout routine really isn't suffering at all.

The reason I do it before is because I'll be hit with a strong case of 'cba' after doing the weights.

Is it better to do it after for any particular reason otherwise?
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Resistance exercises are also a brilliant way to burn fat and go well coupled with CV work. So don't neglect one over the other as they are equally important. Best of both would be to split it half and half.

Personally whenever I did cardio at the end of a weight session I found it helped me to relax. It'll depend on the intensity of your cardio too. Moderate to low intensity steady state will have the effect where as high intensity/HIIT wouldn't!

As mentioned having used glycogen up during lifting it *could* (not up to date with the science on this) put your body in a better position for using fat as fuel.

collisster said:
How many wide grip pull ups should I be able to do before adding weight?
I can crack off about 10 in a row or do 5x3 now. much better than a couple of months ago.
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I'd say it's about time to add some weight if you're confident with your form and muscle recruitment.

I know that I find 8-12 reps of pull ups/chin ups quite tiring in that my muscles fatigue. I don't really feel a great benefit from them un-weighted in that I've just burned up energy. However I'm good for 3 sets of 5 reps +20KG so it's very subjective.

Add some weight and see how you get on :) you haven't got to get 10 reps out per set. You could do an ascending pyramid or maybe just add 5KG or so and drop a few reps.

Also I cannot seem to get my squatting form correct. I dropped all the weight off but no improvement, I feel like I'm going to fall over backwards and that I am bending at the hip to much so that my chest almost touches my knees.

Help please!

thanks
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Mark Rippetoe's starting strength book/DVD. The DVD is brilliant. After a few months off my squat form went to pot (before I was up to 150KG for reps) so it was technique error as opposed to lack of strength. Was getting horrible back pumps and was getting very frustrated. 30 minutes watching his tutorial and it's now fixed and I'm pretty much back to where I was. E-mail in trust if you want some more details.

Breaking at the hips too much was my problem. I'd originally boosted from an oly bench in the bottom of the squat so when I started using a cage it was all a bit backwards. It's very much more a knees out, drop your ass down by leading with the hips and then drive it back up again. As opposed to just pushing your ass as far back as possible.
 
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shoulders/biceps today
failed my last set of 50kg presses, did 4x8-10 of hang cleans at 40kg to try improve my speed of the final part of cleaning the bar onto my shoulders. Quite enjoyed the hang cleans and went for a 20 min run (did 3k) afterwards.

Also took 1.5 scoops of jack3d and felt pretty damn good throughout the workout :p, I guess thats more to do with looking a lot better with a cut in bodyfat + pumped shoulders.
 
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Got the all clear to go nuts on legs from the surgeon, need to get these wheels massive so my recovery time after OP is quick and hopefully can get into football.

Going to be getting straight on squats, will be leaving deadlifts alone. Any tips from people with unstable kneecap? any of you tapers?
 
Minimizing the amount your knee comes forward is a start as I heard this has a shearing effect. Making sure you keep your knees pushed out and driving through your heels, not coming up on to your toes.
 
if you are gonna go heavy then it might be worth investing in some knee wraps. will mean you can do remedial work that includes the ligaments full usage and also going heavier while limiting the potential damage to the knee.
Best of both worlds, just dont become too used to the wraps :p
 
Started doing 5x5 after 4 weeks of barbell complexes, although I got it a bit confused and ended doing squat, bench, dead on Sunday and squat, row, shoulder press today but i'm happy with the results and think that the high volume work has definately helped.
 
Had a back and shoulder workout today, during shoulder press my left shoulder made a large crack and totally gave way. Sore as anything now, seems to keep happening to my left shoulder, going to give shoulder presses a miss in future i think. No idea whats wrong with it! its always doing this! Should really get it seen to.
 
Yeah going to book an appointment with my doctor tomorrow, hope its nothing serious. But doing research online makes me worry!
 
Just watching some of Big Ron's 'Unbelievable', its absolutely nuts :D
He is the king of MASS! Ultimate huge cop lol.

Love going back through some of the old stuff, need to find my old Dorian vid also!


29 mins in, the skinny bloke doing 1/8th squats in the rack lol, quality!
 
does sound bad :(

my back was completely locked on waking up yesterday morning - loosened up a bit during the day

today was a bit better but still ocassionally would "lock up" like someone doing a sweep on your legs from behind .... running felt more comfortable than walking though - and managed 7k tonight- and some very light weights

hoping it will loosen up even more tomorrow

problem is - no idea how it happened - went to bed - fine - woke up - locked lower back :(
 
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