*** The 2011 Gym Rats Thread ***

[BennyC]

That volume should be fine imo. See how you get on with squats. For my HST I had I think 11 or 12 exercises all 3 x 5 and DOMS weren't an issue.

Might want to consider swaping pull ups for chin ups on workout B. Maybe get some dips in on workout B too?

 

[p4radox]

@p4radox: Awesome, nice work. How is your squat doing now, did you try any of those changes?

I've done one squat session since the video and tried for a narrower stance at about shoulder width. I can still feel the knees wanting to buckle inwards but they're under control. I think it's more of a flexibility thing than my stance being too wide.

As for depth, I had someone watch me and confirm I was hitting parallel. Still, I went as deep as possible on my warmups so it's definitely possible for me to get there: just a bit more difficult when it's 140kg!

 

[Begbie]

That volume should be fine imo. See how you get on with squats. For my HST I had I think 11 or 12 exercises all 3 x 5 and DOMS weren't an issue.

Might want to consider swaping pull ups for chin ups on workout B. Maybe get some dips in on workout B too?

Thanks, is worth swapping Workout B for front squats too?

 

[BennyC]

Thanks, is worth swapping Workout B for front squats too?

I'd probably do back squats for 4-6 weeks then if I wanted switch to back or maybe heavy leg press. You'll get more variety with front squats and it'll hit your core harder. Though if you're after boosting strength then I'd stick with that lift for 4-6 weeks.

It'll come down to you, if your legs & glutes are balanced then do the above, though if your quads are the weak link then it might be worth using front squats every other week to help bring them up and give them a bit more load.

 

[Begbie]

I'd probably do back squats for 4-6 weeks then if I wanted switch to back or maybe heavy leg press. You'll get more variety with front squats and it'll hit your core harder. Though if you're after boosting strength then I'd stick with that lift for 4-6 weeks.

It'll come down to you, if your legs & glutes are balanced then do the above, though if your quads are the weak link then it might be worth using front squats every other week to help bring them up and give them a bit more load.

Thanks Benny,

I shall stick to the plan, its basically Ripptoes starting strength. Hoping to get up to 120kg squat + deads by end of March and 90kg Bench. Should be plausable.

Doing so much cardio at the moment though, so I am expecting that to slow it down slightly.

 

[BennyC]

Sounds good

After you've done 5x5 I'd recommend trying HST. I've been getting good gains for size, but also suprisingly strength. I think it's underrated tbh! A few other users here have/are in the process of a HST cycle. I combined mine with IF (intermittent fasting) and have been very pleased with my results so far. My journal is knocking about somewhere feel free to give it a read.

 

[Skull]

I'm just getting to the end of the 15 rep workouts for HST and I'm liking it, it'll be interesting to see how the next 4 weeks go.

 

[dod]

Quick question on squats please.

I could feel my calfs and hamstrings coming together. Is this too far down? Don't have a training partner.

 

[BennyC]

Might be putting pressure on your toes. Drive through the heel of your foot. Curl your toes up if you need to.

 

[Begbie]

Sounds good

After you've done 5x5 I'd recommend trying HST. I've been getting good gains for size, but also suprisingly strength. I think it's underrated tbh! A few other users here have/are in the process of a HST cycle. I combined mine with IF (intermittent fasting) and have been very pleased with my results so far. My journal is knocking about somewhere feel free to give it a read.

I have been following your thread, and passed it on to a friend of mine. An ex competitor, who is considering giving it a bash. Which will be good, as he is planning on doing it when I plan to finish mine. Be a very good training partner.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[icecold]

Quick question on squats please.

I could feel my calfs and hamstrings coming together. Is this too far down? Don't have a training partner.

There is no such thing as going "too deep" on squats. Provided your form is good and you're sitting back properly.

 

[Buffman]

My gym has got a dipping belt in . The chain is very short and a bit of a pain but it works . Dips 4x5 @ bw+25kg for a pb then 1x5@ 22.5kg

 

[kylew]

Quick question on squats please.

I could feel my calfs and hamstrings coming together. Is this too far down? Don't have a training partner.

You should always aim for the full range of motion, so your calfs touching your hamstrings is what you want. A "parallel squat" is a half squat in my opinion.

 

[Gamefreak501]

I did some upper body work yesterday, only on free weights:

Lying Dumb-bell fly - 36kg x10, 36kg x8, 36kg x6 (2x18kg);
Dumb-bell Shoulder Press - 36kg x11, 36kg x9, 36kg x7 (2x18kg);
Dumb-bell Curls - 18kg x9, 18kg x7, 18kg x4;
Dumb-bell Lateral Raise - 6kg x10, 6kg x8, 6kg x6;
Wrist curls - reverse grip - 15kg x15, 15kg x10, 15kg x 6; (fixed barbell)
Wrist curls - standard grip - 20kg x15, 20kg x12, 20kg x9; (fixed barbell)
Bent Over Rows - 40kg x7, 40kg x4 (+olympic bar);
Pullups - x7, x4;

My left arm was struggling on the penultimate and last rep on each set, but I just about squeezed a rep out of it. Looks like the only exercise I missed out on was a standard bench press and I would have liked to do more back and some tricep work really. Never mind; this Saturday I'll concentrate mainly on Back and Triceps.

If my TP and myself get in early enough on Saturday, we can get in the free-weights area and do all our exercises before too many people get there.

Trouble is, between 1-4pm the Car Park is shafted (there were 3-4 spaces left and double parking by some) and between 4-8 the Machines and Free Weights areas are packed, luckily we finish at the end of March here.

 

[MoNkeE]

whoops, almost killed myself on squats on Tuesday... Haven't done free weight squats in about a month due to the rack always being in use........ max I've hit before is 100kg... Did 1x8@60kg.... 1x8@80kg.... Thought Yeah, I can do 90kg easy... got to 4 reps easy, went to push the 5th out, half way back up, and POW, got stuck. Couldn't move up, only down. Went back in to a low quat with the barbell stuck on my shoulders!

Fortunately there was a tank of a lad there training (who fortunately I know fairly well) who was watching, hopped over and helped me get it back up. Think my ego got a bit ahead of my legs there

 

[p4radox]

whoops, almost killed myself on squats on Tuesday... Haven't done free weight squats in about a month due to the rack always being in use........ max I've hit before is 100kg... Did 1x8@60kg.... 1x8@80kg.... Thought Yeah, I can do 90kg easy... got to 4 reps easy, went to push the 5th out, half way back up, and POW, got stuck. Couldn't move up, only down. Went back in to a low quat with the barbell stuck on my shoulders!

Fortunately there was a tank of a lad there training (who fortunately I know fairly well) who was watching, hopped over and helped me get it back up. Think my ego got a bit ahead of my legs there

Good effort.

Do you have safety bars/catchers? As long as you've got good technique I don't see a problem with pushing yourself on squats, I've failed a couple of times on the way up and just slowly lowered myself onto the safety bars. A spotter always helps too though!

 

[icecold]

You should always aim for the full range of motion, so your calfs touching your hamstrings is what you want. A "parallel squat" is a half squat in my opinion.

You've said this before, and I'm still fairly sure your definition of parallel is wrong

whoops, almost killed myself on squats on Tuesday... Haven't done free weight squats in about a month due to the rack always being in use........ max I've hit before is 100kg... Did 1x8@60kg.... 1x8@80kg.... Thought Yeah, I can do 90kg easy... got to 4 reps easy, went to push the 5th out, half way back up, and POW, got stuck. Couldn't move up, only down. Went back in to a low quat with the barbell stuck on my shoulders!

Fortunately there was a tank of a lad there training (who fortunately I know fairly well) who was watching, hopped over and helped me get it back up. Think my ego got a bit ahead of my legs there

haha you mad man! It's always worth knowing what your escape route is going to be; this applies to more than just squats

 

[MoNkeE]

You know what, there are safety bars actually, but I've never used them. Perhaps this is a sign that maybe I should, eh.........? They're the attachments that you use to stick the dips bars on to (our squat rack is a cage-type thing that can be used for chin ups and dips too) but I can't see why you couldn't use them as safety bars.

 

[TommyV]

OHP (which tbh is a mix between OHP + Push press for me lol), 1x 45 plates each side for 8 reps above my head, up from the original 3 a month ago

and 1x45 + 10 each side for 2x reps. Loving life! (all in lb's btw)

This lift keeps rocketing! (OHP!)
Last night;

20x bar
10x bar + 50lb
10x bar + 70lb
10x bar + 90lb
4x bar + 110lb
1x bar + 120lb
10x bar + 70lb
10x bar + 50lb

pressed on with the rest of shoulders, but they were well and truly HAMMERED after this pyramid. Wore a vest for the first time in a year to the gym last night, felt like a tart

 

[BennyC]

You know what, there are safety bars actually, but I've never used them. Perhaps this is a sign that maybe I should, eh.........? They're the attachments that you use to stick the dips bars on to (our squat rack is a cage-type thing that can be used for chin ups and dips too) but I can't see why you couldn't use them as safety bars.

Anything over 100KG and I'll pop my catcher bars in. Due to anything above this weight is difficult to control and likely to more damage. Usually I'll put them in a little lower than necesary so that I can still go deep but should I stall or fail can just dump the bar without worrying about dropping weight onto our passage-way floor, which is matted but tiled under neath.

Sometimes it's worth just calling a spot in for the last set if this is the one you're going to take to failure rather than having them spot you for X amount of sets which isn't required.