*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

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Bad session today. Been feeling a bit under the weather for the last couple of days but as it seemed mainly restricted to my head I thought I'd get the session in.

My mondays are typically: 5x5 Bench, 2x5 Dumbell Incline, 5x5 OHP, 5x5 Dips, bit of Ab work.

I've been in my current routine since the 3rd of January and while on a cutting diet (and having dropped at a stupidly rapid rate) I had managed to bring my bench up by 12.5kg. Not today though, I felt it on my warm up set and barely managed my 1st working set, ended up having to drop 10kg just to get another 3x6 sets out. Focused on form. Dropped my weight slightly on all my other lifts as well but managed 5x5 on all of them. Finished off with 3x3 mins of skipping and called it a day.

I've been planning a mid programme deload week and this might be ideal while I'm a little under the weather. I might take 10kg off my squats/deadlifts on weds/fri and then begin the progression again. I'll try to work on my cardio though, Might only be short bursts of HIIT with a couple of LISS sessions thrown in but it'll be better than nothing.
 
DanH84 said:
Bad session today. Been feeling a bit under the weather for the last couple of days but as it seemed mainly restricted to my head I thought I'd get the session in.

My mondays are typically: 5x5 Bench, 2x5 Dumbell Incline, 5x5 OHP, 5x5 Dips, bit of Ab work.

I've been in my current routine since the 3rd of January and while on a cutting diet (and having dropped at a stupidly rapid rate) I had managed to bring my bench up by 12.5kg. Not today though, I felt it on my warm up set and barely managed my 1st working set, ended up having to drop 10kg just to get another 3x6 sets out. Focused on form. Dropped my weight slightly on all my other lifts as well but managed 5x5 on all of them. Finished off with 3x3 mins of skipping and called it a day.

I've been planning a mid programme deload week and this might be ideal while I'm a little under the weather. I might take 10kg off my squats/deadlifts on weds/fri and then begin the progression again. I'll try to work on my cardio though, Might only be short bursts of HIIT with a couple of LISS sessions thrown in but it'll be better than nothing.
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If you're feeling a bit under the weather and running in a calorie deficit for cutting it may be worth taking a week off completly just to give your body a chance to fight off whatever it is.
 
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tom_e said:
If you're feeling a bit under the weather and running in a calorie deficit for cutting it may be worth taking a week off completly just to give your body a chance to fight off whatever it is.
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This. Being ill and in a calorie deficit is not where you want to end up!
 
Taking this week off myself I think. Woke up this morning feeling really sick, then was struggling to pick up even 100kg when I went to workout. Can't remember the last time I felt bad without stupid amounts of booze being involved!
 
Taking a week off too :D

The funny thing is it feels kinda strange the first day or two, Not a guilty feeling but sort of a lost feeling when not lifting :confused: Dunno why :p
 
Hey benny, nah im definately reloading, im thinking my natural lean weight is going to be around 13.5 but well see when i get closer to that, doing my 30 min am fasted swim on green tea, and 40 minutes after sessions, will start dropping the cals a little again, and will be getting on the squats and deadlifts next back/leg sesh.
 
Whoop whoop!

PLenty of deadlifts for reps today.

100kg Bent over Rows
Pull ups +15kg
Dips with +40kg
and 40kg Skull Crushers.

:cool:

RAWR! The little man is back in action. :cool:

Also did some bicep work last Friday, it feels so so weird having doms in my Biceps. Then again people always say I look to small.:mad:

So time to add some mass along with the strength.

Gone shall be the days of wearing Mediums.
Bring on the sloucher jeans and US large shirts. :p

Guess I need to eat more now aswell. :D :D
 
So after seeing a few of you approach newbies in the gym about their form and giving helpful advice in a way that doesn't sound patronising... i decided to do it today.

2 kids, about 17/18 years old. i see them doing box jumps and heavy bench pressing (with meh form) but occassionally see them heavy deadlift with awful form. They aren't complete idiots, because as one deadlifts, the other stands side on and gives feedback after the lift. But they just continue to lift heavy and do it wrong.

So today i approached them with a 'hey guys, sorry to interrupt, are you commenting on each others deadlift form?' and went on to say 'sorry if this is patronising but ive injured my back through crappy deadlift form before and i dont want the same to happen to others'.

The reaction? pretty much bertstared and they just kept saying 'yeah'.

....so keep your chest proud, and retract those shoulder blades.. pretend you're crushing a can between them... and keep your head up... like this *shows them a few reps*

....yeah

...and for you (pointing to the other guy)... make sure you push through with your hips throughout the lift.. your butt tends to come up first and then your torso.. it should be one fluid motion. keep your butt further down, which is hard to do because you're so tall (6'3) blah blah blah

.....yeah

oh and drop the weight and nail it at a lower weight before you bump it up. itll do a wonder of good and you'll probably progress up quicker.


....yeah

so they drop the weight from 140kg.... to 130kg. methinks ego's are getting in the way :/
 
^^I wouldn't bother unless they ask.

Loads of ego lifters in my gym, I guess sometimes I've done it myself too. Frankly I don't care if they injure themselves or what they lift.

Plus, I doubt many people will listen to you unless you're crazy big :p
 
The Craig said:
^^I wouldn't bother unless they ask.

Loads of ego lifters in my gym, I guess sometimes I've done it myself too. Frankly I don't care if they injure themselves or what they lift.

Plus, I doubt many people will listen to you unless you're crazy big :p
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And even if you are big, many people will ignore advice because they "don't want to get too big".

I saw two newbs on an induction get shown dreadful squatting technique, and a week later I saw them on their own trying to do it. For some reason they'd been told to try and keep their knees close together, so there they are, wobbling all over the place like a pair of boobs. That was the one time I gave someone advice on technique, but I could see they'd be receptive.

Everyone else just gives you daft looks when you squat properly and would trust men's health over any advice I gave them. I'm fine with that, I'm the one making progress! The closest any of the swaggering chest+bis people are going to get to advice from me is a dumbell in the face when one of them finally walks too close during lateral raises :D
 
Bench press, thumbs or no thumbs? I have seen videos on YouTube with both, is it just down to preference? Barbell obviouslly! :)

I hit a new benchpress PR today (118kg / 260lb) :D this was without thumbs however.
 
TommyV said:
Bench press, thumbs or no thumbs? I have seen videos on YouTube with both, is it just down to preference? Barbell obviouslly! :)

I hit a new benchpress PR today (118kg / 260lb) :D this was without thumbs however.
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Sometimes I'll use thumbs but the majority of the time I don't. Hit a PB of 130KG on Friday with no thumbs. As long as your technique is good and you're not wobbling all over the place or boosting dodgily you should be fine. Always worth having a spot regardless of thumbs or no thumbs and regardless of the weight.

The Craig said:
I would never bother to suicide grip while bench pressing. Then again, I think you're unlikely to have accidents if you do.
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I think it depends on how comfortable you feel with that grip and providing you are gripping! not just resting the bar on your palms!
 
Skull said:
The closest any of the swaggering chest+bis people are going to get to advice from me is a dumbell in the face when one of them finally walks too close during lateral raises :D
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Ain't that the truth man. People always seem to give you a wide birth if you're lifting anything.......... UNLESS you're doing late raises, in which everyone seemingly expects you to pause mid-set to let them pass..........?!
 
It varies. I do mine seated and use a very strict form, so use 7.5kg. I get a nice squeeze at the top. I could probably double the weight if I varied how I did it.

I find with a lot of my shoulder exercises I stay light and go for the pinch at the top, and it's been working well.
 
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