*** The 2012 Gym Rats Thread ***

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Xire01 said:
Alright lads,

Been going gym over a month now, been doing 3/4 days a week and tried focusing each day to a specific area of muscles.

Now im a complete gym noob and no very little and have only gone by what my mate suggested (problem is I dont know the names of stuff lol). Would anyone mind doing me a decent Chest/arms/abs/back/shoulders workout for the week?

Ive been doing about 5/6 different exercises each day (3x10) and Im seeing results, but they seem to of reached a point now where im seeing very little improvement. I know diet is a massive factor, been on the shakes and eating high ammounts of protein, but I kind of expected a bit more.

Any help would be awesome guys.
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Bluehell said:
I've been doing Cardio for 2 months now - the Insanity Workout. I enjoy it and would like to do a muscle one from now on every day but im limited in space.

I'm just wondering if anyone has seen a similair sort of thing (dvd wise) that i can do at home but mainly muscle related and mainly dumbbells or equipment i can get to use at home in a small space. I've looked at P90x but i dont have room for a chin up bar as my door in swings and the stairs are directly outside my bedroom door.
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kiwi said:
Hopefully the first of many posts in here for me. I've been doing crossfit for about 4 months, I know everyone here isn't a fan but it's working for me and I've never been confident about the technique of the lifts on my own.

I've gone from literally ~30kg deadlift to 100kg x 5 today which I am obviously pleased about as I used to have a bad lower back.

My upper body is still utter pap so I won't even embarrass myself by posting my other totals!

edit: I'm 6' 2" ~80kg
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What the...? Three in one day? :eek: :D :)

Xire01: forget everything you thought you knew about the gym, then do your mate a favour and do the same for him.

Bluebell: if you want muscles, you need to eat big and lift big weights. There is no other answer. If you've not got much space, sell your bed, buy a bench, squat stands, a barbell and some weights and just do it. :)

Kiwi: you do crossfit for 4 months and you're complaining your upper body is pap? Really? First off, there is a reason crossfit is frowned upon by most people who aren't in the box, so to speak, but we can deal with that elsewhere. If you want big lifts, ditch it and go and join a gym with some proper instruction and go from there.
 
mrthingyx said:
Kiwi: you do crossfit for 4 months and you're complaining your upper body is pap? Really? First off, there is a reason crossfit is frowned upon by most people who aren't in the box, so to speak, but we can deal with that elsewhere. If you want big lifts, ditch it and go and join a gym with some proper instruction and go from there.
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I'm not complaining, I'm an ex high-jumper so I have big legs but I couldn't do a single pull-up 4 months ago. I guess I'm not going to convince anyone here about crossfit but our box is very oly-focused (we have some oly-only classes) and it's working for me right now. My bench has almost tripled in that time but it's still pap which is what I meant :o
 
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You won't convince many people here about Crossfit. You're right. ;)

One of the things to remember about lifting is that most people - even with a bad diet and regime - will improve significantly in the first few months because the body gets used to the lifting from a biochemical and neural perspective: it's like learning any new skill. You could see the same for pretty much any other routine.

Once it reaches a certain threshold with the big neural pathways mapped out, gains will come from muscle development, and your gains will slow significantly. This is where you will notice the limits of Crossfit.

What concerns me is that you're doing Olympic lifts. I don't mean to be a snob, but Oly lifting really requires a very competent coach and an atmosphere that doesn't resemble the box, simply because of the potential for injury. The first few weeks of my Oly lifting were with a barbell only...

I could be misplacing my concern, but I've not heard much good about Oly lifting at Crossfit. However, if you're enjoying it and happy with the public proclamation of being a 'jack of all trades, and master of none' then go for it. Any activity is better than none. But there are regimes that will get you a lot further, and a lot more safely than Crossfit. :)
 
Chris1712 said:
I'd like to try CrossFit, but only because it seems the only place in existence where you can learn Oly lifts outside of universities.
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My gym has started doing it, not sure wether to pop along to a session or not.

Forgot my shaker - spoon and pint glass oooooo so tasty :( :p
 
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mrthingyx said:
You won't convince many people here about Crossfit. You're right. ;)

One of the things to remember about lifting is that most people - even with a bad diet and regime - will improve significantly in the first few months because the body gets used to the lifting from a biochemical and neural perspective: it's like learning any new skill. You could see the same for pretty much any other routine.

Once it reaches a certain threshold with the big neural pathways mapped out, gains will come from muscle development, and your gains will slow significantly. This is where you will notice the limits of Crossfit.

What concerns me is that you're doing Olympic lifts. I don't mean to be a snob, but Oly lifting really requires a very competent coach and an atmosphere that doesn't resemble the box, simply because of the potential for injury. The first few weeks of my Oly lifting were with a barbell only...

I could be misplacing my concern, but I've not heard much good about Oly lifting at Crossfit. However, if you're enjoying it and happy with the public proclamation of being a 'jack of all trades, and master of none' then go for it. Any activity is better than none. But there are regimes that will get you a lot further, and a lot more safely than Crossfit. :)
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I do understand the arguments and I'm not one of those cultish type people. Our coach has spent a lot of time in the USA learning to teach them properly and is very particular about form - like yourself I was on the bar for not only my one to one sessions but afterwards too. It was also more of a hobby at the start rather than a "get hench" program.

You hit the nail on the head though, 4 months ago I was doing nothing, now I'm fitter, stronger and eating better. Joining a "normal" gym wasn't an option as previously mentioned and I guess surprisingly compared to most people, I'm very happy with that proclamation :)
 
Chris1712 said:
I'd like to try CrossFit, but only because it seems the only place in existence where you can learn Oly lifts outside of universities.
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It's a cardinal sin that so few gyms in this country teach them: and there is one in Brizzle.

And if you learn bad technique, it will do you no favours... The guys who teach Crossfit do not eat much training (comparatively) at all, and the competitive environment of Crossfit is counter to the most fundamental aspect of weight raining: check your ego at the door.

It's also a huge amount more frustrating than powerlifting because one can't just bang the reps out and engage beast mode to clear them when you're running low...
 
mrthingyx said:
Fair play! I know I wouldn't. Particularly from a guy who claims rhabdomyolisis is a sign of a good workout. ;)
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I think the whole crossfit usa stuff is ridiculous, especially their programming. We spend 30-45 minutes doing oly lifts or similar then we do a 10-15 minute cardio based workout which is normally bodyweight, dumbbells or kettlebells. It's still crossfit but it's not quite the 60 minute workouts that other places do.
 
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^^ LOL!

Good chest session tonight, smashed my PB on the bench :D

1x105 paused

1x110! :D Never paused it though

A hell of a lot better than last week, barely got 95x1 paused.
 
Fridays session: here
Legs today, from blog:

-Mobility
-Squats:
WU: 10xBar, 4x40kg, 4x60kg
WS: 3x8x80kg - PB again
-Front Squats:
3x10x50kg
-BB-Calve Raise:
70kg: 20+30, 25+25, 20+30.
-RDL:
3x10x55kg

Felt shattered today, no idea why. Squats went okay, certainly on the limit of keeping form half decent now, which is annoying, may take the opportunity to up the reps somewhat.

Front squats I did with crossed arms, my wrist just can't handle the bent backwards thing.

BB-Calve raises were okay, still had the wrist issues, but better than last week.

RDL's felt good, no pain at the time. Currently got some general discomfort, but I think I need to attack my glute with a ball.
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Chris1712 said:
Does anyone know the standard barbell height for a deadlift? Assuming standard oly plates & bar? I'm looking for an excuse for my woeful deadlifting, so thought I'd measure today.

Floor->Bar was 7.5". 20kg plates.
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9".

Also, that video :D
kiwi said:
I'm not complaining, I'm an ex high-jumper so I have big legs but I couldn't do a single pull-up 4 months ago. I guess I'm not going to convince anyone here about crossfit but our box is very oly-focused (we have some oly-only classes) and it's working for me right now. My bench has almost tripled in that time but it's still pap which is what I meant :o
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The oly stuff should be getting you a jacked upper body, come on brah! :p
 
Crossfit: when done right, in the right box with the right people - can be fantastic. Very impressive.

When done wrong, with the wrong people in the wrong box - worryingly bad.


Is there a place for crossfit? Damn right there is. I expect it to produce some great strength athletes as it becomes more popular tbh.
 
**** 5 reps, gonna try progressing with 3's for a while.

Squat:
60x5
100x5
130x3
150x1
160x1
170x3x2 (PB)

Bench:
60x5
70x3
80x2
92.5x4f
92.5x3f (fuuuuuck)
80x5 (paused close-grip)
75x11 (PB)(normal bench)

Wide-grip Pull-ups:
BWx7

 

Mock meet today.

S: 165kg Season PB
B: 110kg PB
D: 210kg PB

Total: 485kg PB

More coming on friday ;).


Also didn't notice the training log section and got very confused for a few minutes.

/facepalm

:p


SMed, they look easy! Nice work man!
 
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