*** The 2012 Gym Rats Thread ***

[Skillmister]

Chest day = Sunday!!
Bring it!

It's all good i've got awesome calf doms from trekking round london all day yesterday. Feels niice

 

[RobSmith]

Went to the gym in an amazing mood today and really went for it.

Set a new PB for squat, albeit minor in comparative terms - 60kg

Really starting to see the hard work paying off in all exercises, it's a great feeling!

Barbecue time, oooooh yeah!

 

[Gamefreak501]

Had a good chest day today.

BB Flat Bench Press: 8x60kg, 8x65kg, 8x70kg;
BB close grip press: 8x50kg, 8x60kg, 8x60kg;
BB Decline Press: 8x50kg, 8x60kg, 8x60kg;
BB Incline Press: 8x40kg, 8x40kg, 8x40kg (felt really weak doing these);
DB Flys: 8x24kg, 8x28kg, 8x28kg;

DB Tricep Extension: 8x10kg, 8x12kg, 8x14kg;
DB Kickbacks: 8x4kg, 8x8kg, 8x8kg;
DB Bent over row: 8x14kg, 8x16kg, 8x20kg per arm (did these by mistake, oops).
BW Chest dips: 8x33kg assisted, 8x26kg assisted, 8x19kg assisted
Rope push down: 8x11kg, 8x13kg, 8x13kg;

15 mins interval CV, 1min@19km/h, 4mins@9km/h

Pressups - 12, 7, 5.

Looks like some of the weights went up this week, which I'm pleased about. Just annoyed I forgot to do my skullcrushers, but I was definitely spent after this session and I still have leg doms from yesterday!

Weighed myself today as well, I think I've creeped to 79kg now.

Kind regards,

David

 

[Chong Warrior]

Had a good chest day today.

BB Flat Bench Press: 8x60kg, 8x65kg, 8x70kg;
BB close grip press: 8x50kg, 8x60kg, 8x60kg;
BB Decline Press: 8x50kg, 8x60kg, 8x60kg;
BB Incline Press: 8x40kg, 8x40kg, 8x40kg (felt really weak doing these);
DB Flys: 8x24kg, 8x28kg, 8x28kg;

DB Tricep Extension: 8x10kg, 8x12kg, 8x14kg;
DB Kickbacks: 8x4kg, 8x8kg, 8x8kg;
DB Bent over row: 8x14kg, 8x16kg, 8x20kg per arm (did these by mistake, oops).
BW Chest dips: 8x33kg assisted, 8x26kg assisted, 8x19kg assisted
Rope push down: 8x11kg, 8x13kg, 8x13kg;

15 mins interval CV, 1min@19km/h, 4mins@9km/h

Pressups - 12, 7, 5.

Looks like some of the weights went up this week, which I'm pleased about. Just annoyed I forgot to do my skullcrushers, but I was definitely spent after this session and I still have leg doms from yesterday!

Weighed myself today as well, I think I've creeped to 79kg now.

Kind regards,

David

There's so much wrong with that workout I wouldn't know where to start. Good luck, you're going to need it...

...and you forgot the skullcrushers??!! Oh my

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Had a week off last week and I'm planning to start 5/3/1 BBB tomorrow. 70+ reps of squats, can't wait

 

[DanTheMan]

Probably a stupidly nooby question but does that barbell count as weight on its own or is it purely the weights that you have added that you total up?

 

[Syla5]

There's so much wrong with that workout I wouldn't know where to start. Good luck, you're going to need it...

...and you forgot the skullcrushers??!! Oh my

Nice and constructive! If you want to point out what you think is wrong with it it may help.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Probably a stupidly nooby question but does that barbell count as weight on its own or is it purely the weights that you have added that you total up?

The bar counts - a standard 7' Olympic bar is normally 20kg but it may vary so weigh it if you want to be sure. E-Z curl bars are approx 7.5kg in my gym but they can vary considerably as well.

Nice and constructive! If you want to point out what you think is wrong with it it may help.

As a guess there's too many isolation exercises in there and quite probably too much volume as well at ~100 reps just on variations of pressing exercises (not including the dips or press-ups). It will obviously depend somewhat what Gamefreak501 wants to achieve but if he's a relative newcomer to lifting then it might be more beneficial to follow a more focused programme.

 

[Chong Warrior]

Nice and constructive! If you want to point out what you think is wrong with it it may help.

Go for it if you have the time to point out everything wrong with that..?

 

[TommyV]

There's so much wrong with that workout I wouldn't know where to start. Good luck, you're going to need it...

...and you forgot the skullcrushers??!! Oh my

The whole point of this thread in it's own right is to somewhat help that person in why you find a problem with it...not just have a moan at them!

us gym rats have to stick together!

 

[Freefaller]

Speed squats
Speed deadlifts
Speed bench
Plate pinches
Reverse flies

Happy times

 

[Chong Warrior]

Had a good chest day today.
No you did not

BB Flat Bench Press: 8x60kg, 8x65kg, 8x70kg; Your warmup is too much if 8x70kg is your working weight, non-productive
BB close grip press: 8x50kg, 8x60kg, 8x60kg; This is a tricep builder, why on earth would you pre-exhaust the smallest muscle group before all your planned chest exercises??
BB Decline Press: 8x50kg, 8x60kg, 8x60kg; why are you going up in weight? If you can lift 70kg for 8 reps on flat then what is the point of that first set of 8x50kg? You are more than warmed up by now
BB Incline Press: 8x40kg, 8x40kg, 8x40kg (felt really weak doing these);I'm not surprised! Even if you had a Ronnie Coleman chest (I'm guessing you don't) you don't need this much volume, cut it out!
DB Flys: 8x24kg, 8x28kg, 8x28kg; I take this weight is total and you aren't using 28kg DB's? Do you really need these?

DB Tricep Extension: 8x10kg, 8x12kg, 8x14kg; Again why are you raising the weights every set? You're way beyond warmed up here, hit the working weight
DB Kickbacks: 8x4kg, 8x8kg, 8x8kg; Sorry but there's no other way of saying this... You should be shot. What exactly are you planning to achieve doing Kickbacks with a 4kg DB? Please stop doing these before someone hits you with a barbell
DB Bent over row: 8x14kg, 8x16kg, 8x20kg per arm (did these by mistake, oops) No half measures here. Just to make 1000% sure you're over-training lets chuck in some random exericse for a completely different bodypart
BW Chest dips: 8x33kg assisted, 8x26kg assisted, 8x19kg assisted The daddy of upper body exercises and you do it 9th in your workout... after you're totally fried and you do it with an assisted weight almost 50% of your bodyweight? I'm lost for words......
Rope push down: 8x11kg, 8x13kg, 8x13kg; I'm sure your triceps needed a finisher? I guarantee you didn't use much tricep in this movement as they would have been shot to bits

15 mins interval CV, 1min@19km/h, 4mins@9km/h This is a workout all by itself, don't do this at the end of a gruelling workout, do it on it's own day... you're killing me here

Pressups - 12, 7, 5. Behave yourself

Looks like some of the weights went up this week, which I'm pleased about. Just annoyed I forgot to do my skullcrushers, (Sorry mate but this was the only good thing you did) but I was definitely spent after this session and I still have leg doms from yesterday! I'll bet you were, you wouldn't be keeping this up for long though

Weighed myself today as well, I think I've creeped to 79kg now.

Kind regards,

David

Comments in green

Just to put this into perspective I've been training for over 20 years. I'm currently old and grumpy, 6' 1" approx 230lbs with a chest measurement approx 48" this is my current chest workout.

Incline DB Press - 3 sets of approx 12-6 reps
DB Flyes - 2-3 sets

That is it for a week!! I might do a single set of hammer machine chest press but I'll just pick a lightish weight and rep out, usually around 15 reps just to get some blood in there at the end of the workout and helps with the mind to muscle connection, afterall the pecs aren't a muscle we use that often. The trick is I make those sets count, they are all out, they are very intense and they hit the intended muslces with perfect form.

If I was trying to build some serious mass I'd drop the flyes and do Dips instead. I've got enough mass on my lower chest, I don't like the bottom heavy chest look so I'm just concentrating on upper chest. Seriously drop all that chaff you're doing and try this:

Dips - 3 sets
Incline DB Press - 3 sets
DB Flyes - 1 set
Close Grip Bench Press - 3 sets
Rope Pushdowns - 2 sets

Few Tips;
Don't do the dips assisted, use your full bodyweight even if you can only manage 3 or 4, you will rapidly gain strength (and size) with them.
As you get stronger on the Dips - Lean forward, bring your legs forward and flare your elbows. As you hit 12 reps, add weight by holding DB between your legs.
Stop one 1 rep short of failure on all exercises. Do not attempt a rep if you know you won't be able to complete it.
Powerful controlled lifts, pause, squeeze the muscle, slow controlled lowering of the weight.
On the flyes be sure to keep your arms bent at all times, at the top of the movement imagine there's a ball on your chest and you're wrapping your arms around it. Push the DB's together at the top very hard, you'll feel the pecs tense and burn.
Close-grip bench press means shoulder width grip. On an Oly bar than means just where the smooth part of the bar ends and the grip starts. Keep the elbows in to the sides. Keep the weight light at first and learn to focus all the weight onto triceps.
Perfect form, don't sacrifice it

 

[Chong Warrior]

Nice and constructive! If you want to point out what you think is wrong with it it may help.

The whole point of this thread in it's own right is to somewhat help that person in why you find a problem with it...not just have a moan at them!

us gym rats have to stick together!

I've give more advice on here than you've had hot dinners, those 11,000 posts weren't racked up in GD asking for advice on girls

Funny how a forum full of people helping each other nobody points out to the newbie he's killing himself?

Just saying....

 

[icecold]

^

Godly. There is a big difference between totally exhausting muscle groups and having a good workout.


Freefaller, what weight, reps, sets and rests did you use for your speed work?

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

Speed squats
Speed deadlifts
Speed bench
Plate pinches
Reverse flies

Happy times

If I didn't know better I'd say that was a powerlifters routine with some flies thrown in.

 

[icecold]

531 week 1:

Squat
5x117.5kg
5x135kg
10x152.5kg
5x10x107.5kg

These felt horrible! I was a mess by the end of it. Damn you cardio... Could have got 1 or 2 more on the "+" set, but no thanks!

Bench
5x70kg
5x80kg
11x92.5kg
5x10x65kg

Might have got another rep or two again, but didn't want to push it. Everything was solid, the slight shoulder flair up seems to have been temporary.

Deadlifts
5x135kg
5x155kg
12x175kg
5x10x125kg

WTF was I thinking?! Left a possible 1 raggedy rep in the tank. Tried to keep things pretty for the "boring but big", but it nearly killed me. I'm also attempting to keep the rests as low as possible here.

OHP
5x42.5kg
5x47.5kg
11x55kg
5x10x40kg

Comfortable, but keeping rests at 2 mins for the 5x10 was gruelling.

So far so good. I'm varying the assistance I do on top of the base workouts, but usually only 1 other exercise. I'm only going to do one cycle while I finish my cut and then move on to something else. The peaking phase of Kort's 3x3 was rubbish, so I'm hoping to re-cultivate some of the gains from the initial 4 weeks. It's PB hunting time!

 

[Pigeon_Killer]

^ How'd you work those weights out? I'm starting 5/3/1 this week and my squat is 162.5x? for week 1 yet your squat PB dominates mine

 

['Wes]

Can someone explain to me why the average person who works during the week [for example; I work Mon-Fri 8-5] does a 4-5 day workout routine, won't they just burnout and overtrain compared to the pro's who do it pretty much as a job?

 

[Freefaller]

^

Godly. There is a big difference between totally exhausting muscle groups and having a good workout.


Freefaller, what weight, reps, sets and rests did you use for your speed work?

Just easing my way into it at the moment, this week is 50% of 1RMs. They were singles. 10 sets - excluding warm up sets.

60% and 70% to follow.

If I didn't know better I'd say that was a powerlifters routine with some flies thrown in.

You'd be right. I'm working on tonnes of mobility at the moment, and form, and I'm focusing on getting strength back.

I'm big enough, and I'm not bothered about uber aesthetics - I just want to get back up to around 600kg totals and break the 250kg deadlift.

 

[Delvis]

Comments in green

Just to put this into perspective I've been training for over 20 years. I'm currently old and grumpy, 6' 1" approx 230lbs with a chest measurement approx 48" this is my current chest workout.

Incline DB Press - 3 sets of approx 12-6 reps
DB Flyes - 2-3 sets

That is it for a week!! I might do a single set of hammer machine chest press but I'll just pick a lightish weight and rep out, usually around 15 reps just to get some blood in there at the end of the workout and helps with the mind to muscle connection, afterall the pecs aren't a muscle we use that often. The trick is I make those sets count, they are all out, they are very intense and they hit the intended muslces with perfect form.

If I was trying to build some serious mass I'd drop the flyes and do Dips instead. I've got enough mass on my lower chest, I don't like the bottom heavy chest look so I'm just concentrating on upper chest. Seriously drop all that chaff you're doing and try this:

Dips - 3 sets
Incline DB Press - 3 sets
DB Flyes - 1 set
Close Grip Bench Press - 3 sets
Rope Pushdowns - 2 sets

Few Tips;
Don't do the dips assisted, use your full bodyweight even if you can only manage 3 or 4, you will rapidly gain strength (and size) with them.
As you get stronger on the Dips - Lean forward, bring your legs forward and flare your elbows. As you hit 12 reps, add weight by holding DB between your legs.
Stop one 1 rep short of failure on all exercises. Do not attempt a rep if you know you won't be able to complete it.
Powerful controlled lifts, pause, squeeze the muscle, slow controlled lowering of the weight.
On the flyes be sure to keep your arms bent at all times, at the top of the movement imagine there's a ball on your chest and you're wrapping your arms around it. Push the DB's together at the top very hard, you'll feel the pecs tense and burn.
Close-grip bench press means shoulder width grip. On an Oly bar than means just where the smooth part of the bar ends and the grip starts. Keep the elbows in to the sides. Keep the weight light at first and learn to focus all the weight onto triceps.
Perfect form, don't sacrifice it

Nice one. Some nice points there, gives me a few ideas for when im back on it