*** The 2012 Gym Rats Thread ***

[Gamefreak501]

Not a great workout yesterday I'm sorry to say.

Wide Pull ups: x8, x5, x4
Narrow pull ups: x5 x4 x3

I can't do many pull ups - it's the only exercise that makes my lower back hurt without fail, and I don't know why or how. I'm thinking of dropping these completely, the pain is almost unbearable Any ideas whats happening here?

Does my core need work here, or should I be avoiding these completely?

BB Dead lifts: 80kgx8, 60kgx8, 60kgx8. I've dropped the weight on these a lot, because my training partner said that my form wasn't brilliant at the 80kg weight. I asked him to record a video of me doing these, which I'll put on here so that I can do a formation check. I'm aiming for 80kgx8 for 3 sets next time and then back up to the realms I was on before.

Lat pull down: 52kg x8, 52kgx8, 52kgx8

Seated row machine was out of action so I didn't do these.

Preacher curls with fixed barbell: 35kgx8, 35kgx8, 35kgx8

2x 1 minute planks.

I figured the preacher curl was enough for isolating my biceps as they're only small muscles and the gym was closing in 20 minutes.

I should have had a leg day instead! Very disappointing though. I think the disastrous pull ups set my mind up for a crap and shortish workout.

Kind regards,

David

 

[icecold]

You're probably extending massively in your lower back when doing your pull ups. Keep your abs tight and spine straight.

Also, if you're doing 1 minute planks it sounds like you're resting on your soft tissue rather than actively engaging your anterior core and glutes.

 

[Gamefreak501]

Cheers for your reply Icecold,

I'll have my next back/biceps day next week...planning a much better session and I'll have to ensure my abs are kept tighter and my spine is kept straight, otherwise I'll just hit a brick wall, again and again on back day.

I need to have someone take a picture of my planks form. After around 35-40 seconds of doing a plank I really start to feel it in the backs of my legs and on my abs and it becomes a real fight to stay in good form.

Kind regards,

David

 

[Chong Warrior]

Not a great workout yesterday I'm sorry to say.

Wide Pull ups: x8, x5, x4
Narrow pull ups: x5 x4 x3

I can't do many pull ups - it's the only exercise that makes my lower back hurt without fail, and I don't know why or how. I'm thinking of dropping these completely, the pain is almost unbearable Any ideas whats happening here?

Does my core need work here, or should I be avoiding these completely?

You're hurting your lower back? Only thing I can think of is you're hyperextending?

Drop one of the Pull-ups, there's no need to do both. I don't like Wide-Grip as I don't think they're very healthy for the shoulders, certainly not for me anyway. Close-grip palms in grip are the best bicep building exercise you can do and they're also arguably THE best for building back width. Winner all round

When doing them try leaning back slightly and make sure your legs are in front of you, you can even bring the knee's right up. This should eliminate any chance of lower back pain?

BB Dead lifts: 80kgx8, 60kgx8, 60kgx8. I've dropped the weight on these a lot, because my training partner said that my form wasn't brilliant at the 80kg weight. I asked him to record a video of me doing these, which I'll put on here so that I can do a formation check. I'm aiming for 80kgx8 for 3 sets next time and then back up to the realms I was on before.

Lat pull down: 52kg x8, 52kgx8, 52kgx8

Seated row machine was out of action so I didn't do these.

You're falling into the same trap as your chest workout, trying to "hit all the angles" It's counter productive, you need to understand more is less and you are only slowing your gains down.

Wide-Grip Chins
Close-Grip Chins
Lat Pulldown

These are all basically the same exercise. By all means rotate them but don't do them in the same workout. Start off with Lat Pulldowns if doing high rep work, then once you plateau and can't improve on the last week change to Close-Grip (especially if wanting to build your arms up) as you hit 12 reps start holding a DB between your legs to add weight. As you plateau change.... and so on...

Preacher curls with fixed barbell: 35kgx8, 35kgx8, 35kgx8

2x 1 minute planks.

I figured the preacher curl was enough for isolating my biceps as they're only small muscles and the gym was closing in 20 minutes.

I should have had a leg day instead! Very disappointing though. I think the disastrous pull ups set my mind up for a crap and shortish workout.

You figured correctly

Back exercises hit the biceps hard, especially chins. Doing loads of pointless curls gets you nowhere.

 

[icecold]

You should be feeling it after 5 seconds, you aren't squeezing hard enough.

 

[Gamefreak501]

Many thanks for your replies Chong Warrior and Icecold.

I'm now thinking of this for next back/biceps day:

Close Grip Pull Ups - BW only (rotating to Lat Pull downs every few weeks). I don't like the idea of hurting my shoulders with the wide grips and don't plan to! I do these dead straight which is making me hyperextend. I think that's what the problem is here, so if I follow yours and Icecolds advice, I should be a lot happier with these.

BB deadlifts - hoping for 80kgx8 for 3 sets next time, as long as form is 100%

Seated Rows - I can lift a good weight on these. Are these okay to do?

Preacher curls - Aiming for 40kgx8 for 3 sets. I prefer the fixed bar to the ez bar, I don't know why. Maybe I should swap between the two every couple of weeks?

Regarding the planks - should I be doing them every training day? I tend to leave them for one session and do them on the other sessions every week. Plus we'll see how quickly I fail when I squeeze harder with them!

Kind regards,

David

 

[Chong Warrior]

Better. Don't just change exercises every couple of weeks for the sake of it. You need to improve every week (even it's it's just by 1 rep or 1kg) when you can no longer improve, usually around the 4-6 week mark then have a lighter week to deload or if you haven't had a break for 3 months take a week off. Then you swap things around and start again.

This simple basic process is essential to making progress and the one most seem to get wrong.

 

[Chris1712]

I've awoken with a massive gym urge. What do? Yesterday was my first stronglifts session where it was starting to get tough, so I'm reluctant to go and do my next SL routine.

A good circuit probably makes sense, but I can never remember the order etc. lol.
Any ideas?

 

[Gamefreak501]

Thanks again Chong Warrior,

I'll allow 4 weeks or a lack of improvement when deciding to change things round.

Kind regards,

David

 

[Chong Warrior]

I've awoken with a massive gym urge. What do? Yesterday was my first stronglifts session where it was starting to get tough, so I'm reluctant to go and do my next SL routine.

A good circuit probably makes sense, but I can never remember the order etc. lol.
Any ideas?

One of the most productive 15-20 minutes you will ever spend in a gym is following this routine:

Pick 10 exercises
Perform exercise 1x10
Jog for 10-20 seconds
Perform exercise 1x10 + exercise 2x10
Jog for 10-20 seconds
Perform exercise 1x10 + exercise 2x10 + exercise 3x10
and so on...

Last set is all 10 exericses for 10 reps each.

First time you do this you will think you are having a heart attack. Perform this every 48 hours, I promise your fitness will improve at an incredible rate considering the small amount of time required to perform this. The beauty of it is using all bodyweight exercises it's easily done at home.

 

[Schizophonic]

 

[Begbie]

I've awoken with a massive gym urge. What do? Yesterday was my first stronglifts session where it was starting to get tough, so I'm reluctant to go and do my next SL routine.

A good circuit probably makes sense, but I can never remember the order etc. lol.
Any ideas?

complexes

 

[icecold]

Regarding the planks - should I be doing them every training day? I tend to leave them for one session and do them on the other sessions every week. Plus we'll see how quickly I fail when I squeeze harder with them!

Kind regards,

David

Do them whenever you like, but they can get a little boring if that's all you do. Try pallof press, ab wheel/bosu ball roll outs, reverse crunches, etc.

 

[icecold]

Back and biceps tonight

Deadlifts 110x8 120x8 130x4
Pull ups BWx10 BWx8 BWx7
Seated rows 50x8 57.5x8 65x8 (straight back and as controlled as possible)
Reverse flys and face pulls (ss) 15x8/25x8 x3
Lat pull downs 45x8x2 50x8 again straight back no leaning back, as controlled as possible
One arm curls 10x15x3 (15 reps is per arm)

Deadlift form vid feel free to critique, I think I am seeing improvements, except for head positioning this week
120x8

And here's 130x4 damn you hex plates

(LiE does an awesome homer impression on my last rep )

Keep at it mate, you're going in the right direction.

Your biggest problem is your natural movement pattern. Notice how you drop to grab the bar for the last rep, you bend you back FIRST and end up with a compromised lumbar region; that was always going to results in a bad lift, despite getting tight at the bottom (load ordering video Dom posted is useful here). You're also going to have to stop moving like that out of the gym as well. Bending down to pick something up at home/work/where ever? Core braced, spine straight, hinge at hip. It might sound silly, but you need to re-teach your body how you want it to move.

 

[Gamefreak501]

Thanks icecold,

They all look like good workouts. The bosu ball roll outs look very awesome for core work.

Kind regards,

David

 

[Chris1712]

OK so I ended up doing a completely random selection of stuff I've missed whilst doing SL . It was quite enjoyable ultimately because I had mad energy from my Maccy D's last night .

Did some light squats really concentrating on depth, with a pause at the bottom and trying to pretty much jump off the floor on the way up. My squat form is awful so every little helps at the moment.
Some dips, some narrow grip chins, some facepulls then TRX inverted rows. Then did a 'core' workout that consisted of pallof press (I've FINALLY got the mind-muscle link for this, rather than my spine & hips trying to twist), zercher squats (my favourite core exercise), & TRX rollouts (can't remember the real name, saw on eric cressey recently). These are pretty awesome, and it really surprised me how quickly my lower back decided it wanted to takeover. I honestly thought I had quite good core stability & lower back control for a beginner but these really test that.

And then I did the 'Viking Row' challenge which was brutal. 100/200/500/1000m sets, you rest for aslong as the distance took you.


Probably not massively beneficial or structured but that's what stronglifts is for during the week, I just woke up and had a massive urge to get sweaty so it's better than sitting around!

 

[icecold]

I'm a big fan of your reading list Chris

Also, I've literally just realised that the crazy TRX rig in my gym might allow me to do some ring stuff. I'm going, right now.

 

[Chris1712]

The TRX rig in mine I think is slightly too close to the wall which is a bit annoying, but regardless It's a recent addition which isn't a pointless machine or hamster wheel so It's a step in the right direction.

It was also nice going at the weekend because there were some women there!? I'm normally the only person there at 8am weekdays so it was quite a surprise, I love yoga pants.

EDIT: I'm now chowing down on a post-workout anabolic pizza. U mad Steedie?

 

[Syla5]

Cheers ice, yeah everything I am taking on board I am trying to make a part of my life, I might do some RDL's on legs day to help me get my mind in order to move from the hip

Also I've recently started sleeping on my back as I have slept on my front for years and since I have started to get bigger I have noticed how uncomfortable I am after awaking up in the mornings from sleeping on my front

 

[Chris1712]

5000rd!

5000 posts and it's not even April!?