*** The 2014 Gym Rats Thread ***

I'm not worried by it....

But since the 6th of Jan when I restarted my bulk, I have gained 2kg.

Before I went on holiday I was 75.5kg, after 3 weeks holiday I dropped to 72.9kg, now after 2 weeks on my bulk again I am 74.9kg.

It cant possibly be all fat... I am on creatine tho.

The funny thing is on Sunday - Monday my weight went up 0.5kg. The weekend I try to maintain my diet, but it's not as much as the weekdays, and yet I saw my biggest jump in weight. :confused:
 
Sycho said:
I am a beginner too Mr Tommo, only been doing 4 months, i only just started doing squats/benchpresses as i wasn't focused on compound exercises to begin with.I practice with bar still on benchpress/squats to warm up and get my form correctly which is getting better.(olympic bar weighs 20kg usually)

I workout 4 days a week now consisting of Triceps/Chest, Biceps/Back, Shoulders/Legs and Str Cardio day with HIIT.(i also do 15-20mins HIIT after every weight workout)

I am doing 3 sets of 8 reps each for everything which i feel comfortable with though may try 5x5.

Problem is even though i've lost a good amount of fat since starting, my muscle gained seems to be slower than i thought is this because of doing HIIT on same days as weight workouts? I am thinking of just doing 30min HIIT with my Str cardio day only and then focus on weights on the other 3 days like above.

Also should i add benchpress to my Triceps/Chest workout? Squats to my Shoulders/Legs?

I am 6 foot 2, 19% bodyfat and 88kg at the moment but some areas such as my arms taking longer to develop even though i am lifting consistantly and fair amount for my strength.Good thing is though my lifting has gone up a fair bit on all exercises since starting.

I am also eating 4 meals a day with about 100g-150g protein a day from food and take 2 protein shakes a day too with that.
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You should be able to hit 100-150g of protein easily without shakes really - unless you're on a tight budget or you just need the shakes for convenience?

Muscle gain slows down after the initial spike - it's just the way it is. It can take years to put on extra muscle after a while.

A good 10min of HIIT (doubt you can do much more - if you can it's not proper HIIT) after a workout is better than before. Or do it at home on an "off" day.

You need more squats and more deadlifting in your routine - don't worry about arms so much, they will build thanks to things like pull ups, rowing, benching, dipping etc...
 
opethdisciple said:
I'm not worried by it....

But since the 6th of Jan when I restarted my bulk, I have gained 2kg.

Before I went on holiday I was 75.5kg, after 3 weeks holiday I dropped to 72.9kg, now after 2 weeks on my bulk again I am 74.9kg.

It cant possibly be all fat... I am on creatine tho.

The funny thing is on Sunday - Monday my weight went up 0.5kg. The weekend I try to maintain my diet, but it's not as much as the weekdays, and yet I saw my biggest jump in weight. :confused:
Click to expand...

Fat and water and glycogen, with a tiny bit of muscle thrown in and I mean tiny.
 
opethdisciple said:
I'm not worried by it....

But since the 6th of Jan when I restarted my bulk, I have gained 2kg.

Before I went on holiday I was 75.5kg, after 3 weeks holiday I dropped to 72.9kg, now after 2 weeks on my bulk again I am 74.9kg.

It cant possibly be all fat... I am on creatine tho.

The funny thing is on Sunday - Monday my weight went up 0.5kg. The weekend I try to maintain my diet, but it's not as much as the weekdays, and yet I saw my biggest jump in weight. :confused:
Click to expand...

Some will be fat yes, 2kg in weight gain in just over a week is a lot, 2kg in a month is a fair whack. That said it all depends on what kind of bulk you WANT to be doing, that my friend is no lean bulk ;)
 
opethdisciple said:
I'm not worried by it....

The funny thing is on Sunday - Monday my weight went up 0.5kg. The weekend I try to maintain my diet, but it's not as much as the weekdays, and yet I saw my biggest jump in weight. :confused:
Click to expand...

From my experience I wouldn't worry too much about weight fluctuation overnight, 0.5kg isn't that much. There are days when I can fluctuate up to 8lb and then lose it all by the next morning, albeit it was food intake and water weight but you may find it's the same for you. And if not then just tweak the diet ever so slightly if maintaining or losing weight is your goal.
 
valkia said:
I agree, I know i'm not "big" of course, but I have to try and give myself some motivation to continue since I have been training for quite a few years, and it is working. I have that bad chest type, which is quite hard to build muscle mass on. I find it very very hard to gain any weight, I just burn food off right off. I work hard, and very enthusiastic along with loving it :D
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If you can look at yourself and see where you need to improve without your ego getting involved, you've got the right attitude :)

I've spoken to people who have said similar about their chests, and guess what they all had in common? Very tight pecs, internally rotated shoulders, and poor thoracic posture.

Fix these issues (mobility thread) and your chest will be a better shape and will be able to grow more easily.
Sycho said:
I am a beginner too Mr Tommo, only been doing 4 months, i only just started doing squats/benchpresses as i wasn't focused on compound exercises to begin with.I practice with bar still on benchpress/squats to warm up and get my form correctly which is getting better.(olympic bar weighs 20kg usually)

I workout 4 days a week now consisting of Triceps/Chest, Biceps/Back, Shoulders/Legs and Str Cardio day with HIIT.(i also do 15-20mins HIIT after every weight workout)

I am doing 3 sets of 8 reps each for everything which i feel comfortable with though may try 5x5.

Problem is even though i've lost a good amount of fat since starting, my muscle gained seems to be slower than i thought is this because of doing HIIT on same days as weight workouts? I am thinking of just doing 30min HIIT with my Str cardio day only and then focus on weights on the other 3 days like above.

Also should i add benchpress to my Triceps/Chest workout? Squats to my Shoulders/Legs?

I am 6 foot 2, 19% bodyfat and 88kg at the moment but some areas such as my arms taking longer to develop even though i am lifting consistantly and fair amount for my strength.Good thing is though my lifting has gone up a fair bit on all exercises since starting.

I am also eating 4 meals a day with about 100g-150g protein a day from food and take 2 protein shakes a day too with that.
Click to expand...
Make sure you're eating 150g of protein as an absolute minimum.

Adding bench, squats, and deadlifts should also be a high priority.
 
Just reading up above about the abnormal liver tests from high protein content. This is largely academic observation and no cause for concern however for anyone interested 170g/protein a day (my current consumption) leads to normal results, when I was consuming 220g/day last year the result was abnormal as the enzymes concerned were elevated. I too have no idea why the RDA of protein is so low, it's ridiculous. I eat 100g in a single meal usually.

Cut is going phenomenally well this January, thank god for the Dry january. Cutting out the alcohol makes all the difference both in terms of diet and psychologically. When I'm done I think I might post up the before and after pictures because it is absolutely astonishing what you can achieve in one month with Leangains and a proper compound based training regime :)
 
Thanks for replies Freefaller/Icecold, i am eating 100-150g protein a day and just taking 2 shakes a day to add a bit more.

Should i make my workout days like this:

A)Benchpress+3 chest exercises+3 triceps exercises
B)Deadlift+3 bicep exercises+3 back exercises
C)Squats+3 shoulder exercises+3 leg exercises?

Yeah i usually manage about 15min max HIIT....go mental on intervals as my fitness is very good just my muscle density lacking.
 
Barks said:
When I'm done I think I might post up the before and after pictures because it is absolutely astonishing what you can achieve in one month with Leangains and a proper compound based training regime :)
Click to expand...

Update your log with your experience! I'd be very interested in reading it :)
 
I personally don't bother with arms at all - I'd rather focus on other things - but everyone is different. :)

If you're only doing 3 days I'd put bench in the middle to give you a little recovery time.

Day 1 - squats, walking lunges, (D)BSS.
Day 2 - Flat bench, Dips, incline DB press. Shoulder work (including OHP)
Day 3 - Deadlifts, pull ups, DB Rows.

You could add shoulder work onto day 1 or day 3 I just shoved it on there for an example - or you could split shoulders over the 3 days just doing 1 exercise perhaps.
 
Might be a stupid question but...the Smith machine (I think thats what it is called), what's the point of this? It looked just like a bench but takes away all the stabilisation needed for a standard bench press? Never used one before so I've probably missed something obvious.
 
mr tommo said:
Might be a stupid question but...the Smith machine (I think thats what it is called), what's the point of this? It looked just like a bench but takes away all the stabilisation needed for a standard bench press? Never used one before so I've probably missed something obvious.
Click to expand...

Yup. Avoid.

Well, unless you want to do some specific seated press work or something.
 
Freefaller said:
I personally don't bother with arms at all - I'd rather focus on other things - but everyone is different. :)

If you're only doing 3 days I'd put bench in the middle to give you a little recovery time.

Day 1 - squats, walking lunges, (D)BSS.
Day 2 - Flat bench, Dips, incline DB press. Shoulder work (including OHP)
Day 3 - Deadlifts, pull ups, DB Rows.

You could add shoulder work onto day 1 or day 3 I just shoved it on there for an example - or you could split shoulders over the 3 days just doing 1 exercise perhaps.
Click to expand...

What's bss? remember i fairly new to this.

Looks good workout will try some of what you said see how i do.

Is doing HIIT for 10-15mins going to eat any muscle gains doing directly after weights on same day?

I'll start trying deadlifts this week, have watched some videos to check technique too to make sure i do not destroy my back.:p
 
mr tommo said:
Might be a stupid question but...the Smith machine (I think thats what it is called), what's the point of this? It looked just like a bench but takes away all the stabilisation needed for a standard bench press? Never used one before so I've probably missed something obvious.
Click to expand...

They're good for the inverted row in Stronglifts... Aside from that if you've got the choice of using free weights to do the same exercise then it's probably better to avoid the Smith Machine.

Calf raises are another potential option where the limited path of movement doesn't matter so much but your current regime may not have any need for that.
 
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