*** The 2012 Gym Rats Thread ***

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Ultra_Extreme said:
Altho i know your joking its also not exactly true, compound lifts help in every single aspect of sports and strength. Your body is a chain and is only as strong as its weakest link. This is why machine training can be so dangerous in the long term, as there will be many weak links. There is almost no exercise (i cant name one) where the isolation will lead to better real world function than compound.

You must remember that bench squat and dead are specific compounds working specific chains of muscles. Im not saying any are especially good for a rower but low rows and pull downs are not isolation exercises and also require and recruit many muscles involved in other lifts to a degree that would make them weak if untrained. Essentially if i put a quality deadlifter with a rounded program in a competition with anyone who specifically trained say the low row, assuming equal genetics diet and time trained id put my house on the deadlifter.

So many technical factors above individual muscle strength affect an individuals ability to perform a physical task, most notably the CNS (central nervous system) ability to recruit what fibres and in what order. This far exceeds the value of muscle mass or the strength on any individual muscle or even muscle group. There is no better way to condition the CNS than by doing big compound movements. Thus whatever the goal, compounds will always be king.
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I wasn't in anyway implying isolation exercises are better than compounds and i never even mentioned machines! I was trying to say that dismissing isolation exercises as useless is a little naive. Depending on your goal, they have their place. You won't find many bodybuilders out their that don't use them in their routines. You talk about function, strength, sports carry over etc but for some people aesthetics is the goal and the things you mention are secondary or not important at all.

My point is... Curls rule... Its all I do... 30 sets, 3 times per week and I've got like 13 inch gunz! :p

Edit: I really must point out I'm not some sort of isolation fanboy! I do use them though.
 
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Morba said:
Trap bar for deads?
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I've recently found one of those in one of the gyms I go - so so much easier than regular bar deadlifts, guess it goes to show how crap my technique is lol.
I haven't touched anything above 180 for well over a year now yet I loaded that bad boy with 196 and threw 5 reps out without any hesitation.
 
Cristian said:
I've recently found one of those in one of the gyms I go - so so much easier than regular bar deadlifts, guess it goes to show how crap my technique is lol.
I haven't touched anything above 180 for well over a year now yet I loaded that bad boy with 196 and threw 5 reps out without any hesitation.
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Its good and bad, the contraction in your upper back required to keep your spine in line in a standard dead is half the battle. In a trap bar lift its minimised
 
Cristian said:
I've recently found one of those in one of the gyms I go - so so much easier than regular bar deadlifts, guess it goes to show how crap my technique is lol.
I haven't touched anything above 180 for well over a year now yet I loaded that bad boy with 196 and threw 5 reps out without any hesitation.
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No it shows how much easier it is to do side handle deads compared to having the bar in front of you ;)

Put the trap bar down and sort your normal deads form out :p
 
I weighed myself tonight at half 9, I then fell asleep for 2 and a half hours, having eaten or drank nothing in that time, had gone to the toilet prior to the weigh and when I woke up I weighed myself again and I had lost 0.6kg

That doesn't make any sense :S
 
Gravity is less closer to midnite so you weighed the same just in lower gravity.
Try jumping around a bit and see how different it feels in low gravity environment :)
 
DogsBody said:
I weighed myself tonight at half 9, I then fell asleep for 2 and a half hours, having eaten or drank nothing in that time, had gone to the toilet prior to the weigh and when I woke up I weighed myself again and I had lost 0.6kg

That doesn't make any sense :S
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The amount of water weight you sweat off when you sleep is pretty huge...
 
Ultra_Extreme said:
Dunno, support is harder, most folks arms fail before legs which buckles the core. Chances are this guy wouldnt have so much trouble with back squats with proper direction, odd as he as a coach.
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Used to do back squats before the previous coach suggested switching to fronts. Most of my time recently has been focused on soft tissue work and flexibility to get better depth on the squat, which has worked, but meant weights have had to drop.

Coach (guy who does Cambs Uni Rugby and Rowing teams) has put focus on the squat because I can clean 80kgs for a set, which should mean front squats are a lot bigger than they currently are...
 
*Cutting Weight*

Advice required.

When I started attending my gym (last year) I weighed a little under 12st. These days I'm now hovering around the 14st mark.

I'd like to now cut down by a 1st or 1.5st. Get rid of some fat.

I'd like to know how I can do this safely and without having to starve myself lol.

I usually eat 3 meals a day with the odd snack (usually cereal with full fat milk, chicken slices and a few other things) between them.

Thanks in advance

I really hope I've posted within the correct thread this time!
 
DAIR said:
Advice required.

When I started attending my gym (last year) I weighed a little under 12st. These days I'm now hovering around the 14st mark.

I'd like to now cut down by a 1st or 1.5st. Get rid of some fat.

I'd like to know how I can do this safely and without having to starve myself lol.

I usually eat 3 meals a day with the odd snack (usually cereal with full fat milk, chicken slices and a few other things) between them.

Thanks in advance

I really hope I've posted within the correct thread this time!
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Yup, thread is correct.

So have you actually been going to the gym? Have you followed a programme? Are you being honest with what you're eating?

How has your body changed over the past year? Would you say that 2 stone is muscle or flab?
 
Yep, if you have put on a significant amount of lean mass then dropping back to the same weight as you were before will be harder than if its all just fat.

As ever, weight is a single measurement. What was/is your bf% these days?
 
mrthingyx said:
Yup, thread is correct.

So have you actually been going to the gym? Have you followed a programme? Are you being honest with what you're eating?

How has your body changed over the past year? Would you say that 2 stone is muscle or flab?
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Yeah. I go three times a week (Most weeks). And have been concentrating on bulking up.

With regards to food consumption, this has changed massively since starting. Was a little poor at first but now I make my own meals (which usually consist of chicken, pasta, veg, etc).

No idea of how much of me is flab (how would I go about working this out?) ... :( I'd say a considerable about as I have developed a bit of a gut.
 
caliper tests are the best way, but without an initial reading before you started its hard to say whether you have gained or not ;)

Got any pics from before you started hitting the gym? If so post one up with another from now
 
Post those.

When I asked you if your body has changed, I wasn't looking for an accurate measurement.

Those 2 stone must have gone somewhere: if you now look like Rab C Nesbitt, that's bad. If you used to have abs but don't anymore, or have received comments from passing shallow individuals as to the size of your pythons, that's somrething else.
 
Here we go

Just took these a few mins ago. Got myself weighed while I was at it.

IMAG0529-1.jpg


IMAG0536.jpg
 
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