*** The 2013 Gym Rats Thread ***

opethdisciple said:
So you say it's a lack of carbs pre workout?

My preworkout food is, 1 medium sweet potato & either a chicken breast or tin of tuna and a banana one hour before, then 5 mins before I eat another banana and a espresso shoot or two.
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Hmm?

Most sensible recommendations would say something like 5g carbs per 2 work sets - by a "work set" here, I'm referring to something along the lines of a set in a standard extensive bodybuilding routine - i.e. a set lasting 30-40 seconds or so. So say you got a workout with, I dunno, say 20 sets of that sort of length, then 50g carbs would be good, maybe an hour before working out? Of course, if your sets are much quicker than that, adjust accordingly. If you're doing a more strength oriented low rep program where a set is 15 seconds or so, then 25g carbs might be enough for your 20 work sets.

Or whatever.

Best thing to do is experiment and see what works best for you. You never know if you don't try.
 
Probably been asked a billion times before but any other way to work out the abs without doing "floor" exercises?
I try and stick to a routine but never last more than a couple of times before becoming incredibly bored doing it.
Pure does have an ab cruncher which I use. And that twisty thing someone posted a while back, I tried it but couldn't get on with it, don't think I can twist correctly for it...
 
ash_scotland88 said:
Probably been asked a billion times before but any other way to work out the abs without doing "floor" exercises?
I try and stick to a routine but never last more than a couple of times before becoming incredibly bored doing it.
Pure does have an ab cruncher which I use. And that twisty thing someone posted a while back, I tried it but couldn't get on with it, don't think I can twist correctly for it...
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What's wrong with floor exercises?

Ab rollouts, hanging raises, reverse crunches, squats, deadlifts...
 
opethdisciple said:
I plan to do a 5-6 week quick fat loss diet. (Due to holiday coming up) I lost a lot of weight prior to bulk, but now Im back to being a little bit tubby. :o
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opethdisciple said:
I think my goals of reaching say 10-12% bf are on hold at the moment. My body didnt want to go so low last time I tried, so the idea is to increase my muscle mass over the next 6 months and see if that helps me achive my goals.
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Make your mind up.

Also stop trying to do so much chopping and changing with your routine. Unless you just do 2 different excercises per workout you are going to get tired by the time some things come around, such is life. Man up ;)
 
ash_scotland88 said:
Probably my lack of work out lingo but meant floor as in lying on your back/front doing them.

As said I just get bored of them easily, they dont seem to keep me entertained when doing them.
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Its not meant to be an entertainment room :p

Get creative, do things like landmines, pall of presses on the cable stack, or superset core work, it doesn't have to be boring.

That said, if you're getting bored doing a plank, you clearly aren't doing a plank!
 
Captain Planet said:
Yes. He does HST like myself and a few others.

Squat
DL
Bench Press
Fly
Front Raise
Lat Raise
Dips
Calf press
WG Pull Up
Lat Pull Down
Curl
Shoulder Press

I do that routine every other day.
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I can see the merit in this. Low volume but higher frequency, keeps the muscle on it's toes more often.

How has this been working for you?

This is defo something I will look in to and try.
 
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Skillmister said:
Make your mind up.

Also stop trying to do so much chopping and changing with your routine. Unless you just do 2 different excercises per workout you are going to get tired by the time some things come around, such is life. Man up ;)
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All I meant was I want to lose as much fat as I can hust before I go on holiday. If it wasnt for the holiday I would still be bulking. (And I still am bulking for another 5 weeks or so) Once back from holiday I'm going be back bulking again untill the end of the year maybe* beyound.
 
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Delvis said:
Its not meant to be an entertainment room :p

Get creative, do things like landmines, pall of presses on the cable stack, or superset core work, it doesn't have to be boring.

That said, if you're getting bored doing a plank, you clearly aren't doing a plank!
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But it still needs to hold some amusement and entertainment.
The pallof presses looks like something I could posibly do at the gym, but I find cable stacks are typically hogged by the same lot whenever I go.
There's a 6min ab workout that I've been trying and need to try and get back into. I admittedly need to rest a bit so cant do the full minute of each and don't have room for lying leg knee twist which gives me an other minute of rest, can you think of anything similar for working out that area that could be done?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGOMAHOJxXM


Talking about ab workouts just want to have a rant- mianly cause I have nowhere else to do so. The amount of guys I watch using this machine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uqB12ApVuOk

That seem to pull down with their arms is unbeleivable. I tend to use a light grip or even hover over the handles when using it to stop me doing so, although I think this makes me push with my shoulders a bit but I do try and correct it.
Unless ofcourse I'm doing it wrong?

But it's that machine and the rowing machine are really my only two ab workouts at the gym that I do. Anything else is at home.
Although I read that using the ascent trainer and "running" without the handles eyes closed are a great core workout. Something to do with it requires greater effort to remain upright, have only managed a few seconds doing this but I also feel doing it eyes open my body twists more doing so and gives a bit of a workout.
 
opethdisciple said:
I can see the merit in this. Low volume but higher frequency, keeps the muscle on it's toes more often.

How has this been working for you?

This is defo something I will look in to and try.
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Yeah. I'm pretty sure you have no intention of giving that a go whatsoever. And you shouldn't. It would just be another pointless routine change when you have barely progressed on the present one. Aside from that, you complained only a few posts earlier about finding your OHP is limited due to the bench press.

You truly are a walking dichotomy.
 
ash_scotland88 said:
But it still needs to hold some amusement and entertainment.
The pallof presses looks like something I could posibly do at the gym, but I find cable stacks are typically hogged by the same lot whenever I go.
There's a 6min ab workout that I've been trying and need to try and get back into. I admittedly need to rest a bit so cant do the full minute of each and don't have room for lying leg knee twist which gives me an other minute of rest, can you think of anything similar for working out that area that could be done?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGOMAHOJxXM


Talking about ab workouts just want to have a rant- mianly cause I have nowhere else to do so. The amount of guys I watch using this machine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uqB12ApVuOk

That seem to pull down with their arms is unbeleivable. I tend to use a light grip or even hover over the handles when using it to stop me doing so, although I think this makes me push with my shoulders a bit but I do try and correct it.
Unless ofcourse I'm doing it wrong?

But it's that machine and the rowing machine are really my only two ab workouts at the gym that I do. Anything else is at home.
Although I read that using the ascent trainer and "running" without the handles eyes closed are a great core workout. Something to do with it requires greater effort to remain upright, have only managed a few seconds doing this but I also feel doing it eyes open my body twists more doing so and gives a bit of a workout.
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You would benefit from learning how to train you core properly.
 
icecold said:
You would benefit from learning how to train you core properly.
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^^^ This

And while my general recommendation would be for a proper core development program, I should still say that if all somebody is interested in is hypertrophy of the rectus and obliques, then weighted crunches and the sort have always got the job done just fine. However much they may suck for everything else.
 
BigPecsPeter said:
Yeah. I'm pretty sure you have no intention of giving that a go whatsoever. And you shouldn't. It would just be another pointless routine change when you have barely progressed on the present one. Aside from that, you complained only a few posts earlier about finding your OHP is limited due to the bench press.

You truly are a walking dichotomy.
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Do we need to do this?

A) It's just information. No one can have enough of it. It's nice to know that something like this exists. If you don't know its there you cant try it. It is possibly something to try at a later date.

B) Why are you making assumptions and getting emotionally involved in what I am or am not planning on doing? If it's because you care. Well thanks. But I’m not intending on changing anything as of yet. What I'm doing is seeing me some results. I have no reason to change. It's now just a matter of time, constancy effort and diet and incremental weight increases.

C) If people where telling me 'No dude, no one trains OHP on the same day as bench', then I could have drawn the conclusion that maybe that’s my issue. But it seems people are doing OHP on bench day. So with that in mind, I can just get on with it.
 
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Opeth there is no point doing HST when you haven't even hit the wall with the linear progression gains of a basic strength program. I think HST has 15 rep max days (being a periodised program) - if your 5RM for something like the OHP is like 35kg, and given you have to start out with weights that are a deload off your maxes, will your 15 rep maxes at the start even be the weight of an empty bar? You'll be in pink dumbbell land.

It's a popular program but it's for people who already have a solid base of strength who want to prioritise training for size (hence the name, Hypertrophy Specific Training). If you've got no strength to start with it's like running before you can even walk.
 
Somnambulist said:
Opeth there is no point doing HST when you haven't even hit the wall with the linear progression gains of a basic strength program. I think HST has 15 rep max days (being a periodised program) - if your 5RM for something like the OHP is like 35kg, and given you have to start out with weights that are a deload off your maxes, will your 15 rep maxes at the start even be the weight of an empty bar? You'll be in pink dumbbell land.

It's a popular program but it's for people who already have a solid base of strength who want to prioritise training for size (hence the name, Hypertrophy Specific Training). If you've got no strength to start with it's like running before you can even walk.
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Thats what I thought. I was actually going to ask the question what level is this training routine aimed for. You answered the question for me.

My plan at the mo, is simply to get stronger. Which is why I am doing 5x5 reps.

I still have a few very basic things I need to achive:

1. 60kg bench press
2. 40kg OHP
3. BW pull ups 5x5
 
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