*** The 2013 Gym Rats Thread ***

Freefaller said:
To be honest any one able to do bodyweight exercise is considered strong in my book. :) keep at it. :)
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Thanks. I just about finish 3 sets of 5 at the moment, anything failed I finish off with negatives. To be quite honest it is the grip and my forearms that let me down so I have been deliberating the purchase of some straps. Not sure whether to go for them or just keep digging away at the pullups without them in the hope it brings my grip up to scratch. Thoughts?
 
Captain Planet said:
Thanks. I just about finish 3 sets of 5 at the moment, anything failed I finish off with negatives. To be quite honest it is the grip and my forearms that let me down so I have been deliberating the purchase of some straps. Not sure whether to go for them or just keep digging away at the pullups without them in the hope it brings my grip up to scratch. Thoughts?
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Negatives wreck my forearms, particularly as I do deadlift beforehand. If it starts hurting in a non-doms way I'd be inclined to recover before hammering them further, which is exactly what I'm doing at the moment.
 
Kidge said:
I've just started out at my local gym again, what would you recommend for toning muscle and losing BMI. Happy with my current weight just chubby and want to be a bit stronger without being massive. Checked through the threads would the beginners routine suit?.
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Starting Strength or StrongLifts would be fine. It's a good start to building muscle, and will still help you lose weight. You're not going to get massive unless you spend a good few years at it. In twelve months time, you won't be massive, and you'll have a much better idea of how to work out based on your aims.

Maybe throw in some HIIT as well if you really want.

Also, stop caring about BMI. It's an outdated pointless measurement.

Nitefly said:
Negatives wreck my forearms, particularly as I do deadlift beforehand. If it starts hurting in a non-doms way I'd be inclined to recover before hammering them further, which is exactly what I'm doing at the moment.
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Same issue. Forearm arm pump cripples my grip. (Although based on what you're saying it might not be pump - but I get some god awful pump in my forearms)

kd
 
King Damager said:
Starting Strength or StrongLifts would be fine. It's a good start to building muscle, and will still help you lose weight. You're not going to get massive unless you spend a good few years at it. In twelve months time, you won't be massive, and you'll have a much better idea of how to work out based on your aims.

Maybe throw in some HIIT as well if you really want.

Also, stop caring about BMI. It's an outdated pointless measurement.
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Bit of a noob so I'll google Starting Strength and StrongLifts. Also, whats HIIT?.

Note taken, what's BMI ;)
 
Kidge said:
I've just started out at my local gym again, what would you recommend for toning muscle and losing BMI. Happy with my current weight just chubby and want to be a bit stronger without being massive. Checked through the threads would the beginners routine suit?.
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Toning isn't a thing, you want to lose fat and maintain/gain muscle - improving your body composition :)

If I were you I'd do something like starting Strength or Strong lifts 5x5, look them up. These will allow you to start at low weights and learn proper technique, as well as focussing on compound movements which will be the most beneficial for you.
 
Nitefly said:
Negatives wreck my forearms, particularly as I do deadlift beforehand. If it starts hurting in a non-doms way I'd be inclined to recover before hammering them further, which is exactly what I'm doing at the moment.
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My current routine involves DL right before Pullup, I don't think my DL is nearly heavy enough yet though so I doubt it will be affecting my grip too much. I think I just have poor grip along with weak back.

Times are changing!
 
Kidge said:
Bit of a noob so I'll google Starting Strength and StrongLifts. Also, whats HIIT?.

Note taken, what's BMI ;)
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High Intensity Interval Training.

The idea is to do short bursts of very intense exercise followed by longer periods of lower intense exercise. So with rowing/running you sprint for 30 seconds, jog for 60 seconds etc and repeat. Some people swear it is vastly superior for both cardiac fitness and fat loss. I personally just enjoy doing it, as opposed to doing a boring steady pace run for 30 minutes.

Weight lifting isn't dissimilar really, it's explosive bursts of energy followed by resting periods.
 
Captain Planet said:
Thanks. I just about finish 3 sets of 5 at the moment, anything failed I finish off with negatives. To be quite honest it is the grip and my forearms that let me down so I have been deliberating the purchase of some straps. Not sure whether to go for them or just keep digging away at the pullups without them in the hope it brings my grip up to scratch. Thoughts?
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If you feel your grip is holding back your work then straps are there to help.

HOWEVER, I personally feel that by jumping onto straps you're also missing out on some good grip work. Though saying that I do very little grip specific work.

A few things that may help are:

Plate pinches
Fat gripz on dumbells/barbells when doing some of those exercises or alternatively do towel holds - i.e. hang a towel and grab the 2 halves and try and hold yourself up as long as possible - holding onto a towel is hard and creates a great forearm pump.
Static holds

However, I'm not a fan of grip specific training - things like captains of crush are a waste of time as they just train crushing strength. I mean you can do things like finger press ups, rubber ball pinches etc... but I wouldn't spend time in the gym specifically training grip.

I do deads before my pull ups, and then finish off with some DB rows with fat gripz - the make the dumbbell handle VERY thick - i.e. around 4" in diameter.

So my grip does get hammered.

This has taken years of training without straps. When deadlifting try DOH grip as much as possible. When putting plates away, or moving plates, try doing them with plate pinches instead. When doing chins, when you've finished your set - just try and hang there as long as possible - if you get forearm pumps and pain it means you're doing it right. Also, white knuckle grip - i.e. concentrate on holding on as tight as possible.

Grip is a slow thing to develop as it's mainly tendon work, and they take a long time to strengthen - as typically we don't give them enough recovery - but that's just the way it is! Nothing to try and avoid.
 
Fat gripz are actually quite good also as they take the pressure off the elbow/joint and remove a lot of bicep activation when doing rows - so are great for targeting specific training. Though, doing bicep curls with them (i did have a try :p) is humbling as well. Brilliant bit of kit - great value for money. Though mine were a gift from my old housemate SPW! :D
 
Indeed - they're awesome for rows (barbell stuff included).

I preferred them for dumbell pressing, too, as they took a lot of the pressure off my wrists.

However, the forearm activation from them results in truly abominable DOMS - so noticeable because arms/fingers are used for... well... everything.
 
Hi guys, currently doing alternate day fasting (ADF). Can someone check that my protocol is O.K:

TDEE: 2600 ish.

Monday: Normal day of eating ~2200, stop eating at 8pm
Tuesday: Fasting until 6pm, then eat a 600kcal meal (meat + sweet potato + other veg), stop eating around 10pm,
Wednesday: Normal eating day starting at 9am. ~2200 kcals, stop eating at 8pm

Rinse and repeat.

Is this OK? Cheers.
 
hmmm crazy low, extreme, probably counter productive and unhealthy.

What are your goals, there are much better ways to eat in a calorie deficit then extreme low cals every other day.
 
600 cals? I have that for breakfast. You don't need extreme deficit to loose weight. It's a bad idea.
 
Has nobody heard of ADF?! Evidence emerging that it's actually a much healthier method, helps with weight loss, and can actually improve lots of risk factors for, well, loads of things!
 
I'm pretty sure there was a big discussion on it when the bbc done a documentary on it a few months ago, can't remember what the overall thought was on it though.
 
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