*** The 2014 Gym Rats Thread ***

Good series Eric Helms has started up on 3DMJ's channel. 3 parts so far.


Each is relatively short and sweet. Pt1 is about why 'training for size' is misleading, Pt2 is how bulking/cutting aren't as different as you'd think, and Pt3 is about gains/fat loss on both bulks/cuts.
 
kai said:
Does anyone use arginine or beta-alanine to help with pump / vascularity.

I have a shoot in a few weeks, and been told I need the "road map" look. I have been using AAKG (in high doses) but not seen any real affect but vascularity has a huge influence on genetics and of course low bodyfat.

perhaps something like NO-Explode, Superpump250 ?
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BA won't help as it's not a pump supp, you're probably best off looking around for some water/sodium manipulation stuff if you've already got the low bf which I expect you have.
 
I've been doing Stronglifts 5x5 since just before Christmas, 3 times a week and just wanted to ask if I'm doing alright/progress report from some of the senior guys on here.

Started with empty barbell and tonight I'm going to do 70kg squats, 38kg OP and 85kg Deadlifts. Not done those squats before, but did 68kg on Wednesday with 8 reps on last set without much difficulty.

I'm only just hitting 50kg benches and think it'll be around 2 more weeks before I go to 55kg. Having only just added 50kg, I'm finding it pretty difficult, but I was like that when I hit 40kg a few weeks ago.

Pendlay rows are where I'm stalling. Really think it's the form I'm having problems with. I'm on around 45kg and moving up the weights really slowly. I watched some form videos before my last workout and felt I really improved. Wasn't staying low/parallel enough and when I stayed more flat/lower, I felt it was much easier. Think I must have been doing weird deadlifts previously. Will continue to work on this.

Never done weight lifting before so feel I'm making good/steady progress. Might be slacking on adding weight, but I want to get my form spot on as I'm still a beginner and not having anyone to show/correct me.

Started out at 160lbs @ 6.1" now I'm 180lbs and seeing some changes. Arms are going bigger (were sticks before and now they're showing some muscle, albeit slightly) and legs/waist looks drastically different. Still got quite a bit of belly/torso flab though. But hoping that goes away with heavier squats/deadlifts.

Using total protien and instant oats and multi vitamins. Sticking to wholefoods mainly.

Really enjoy SL 5x5 as I'm done within 30mins to an hour and it's really straightforward to follow. Feeling shattered in bed and the next day is great too!


*Edit*

70kg squats were no problem, but really struggled completing my OP sets. Did 3 then failed on the 4th rep of my 4th set and got about halfway through my final set before my arms just packed up. Tried lowering the weight to complete the set but couldn't even lift the bar up... Might do 8 reps of 35kg next week instead.

85kg deadlifts were also pretty tough. I did 4 warm up sets of 60, 70, 70, 80. Had to take pauses with each rep on the final and felt my shoulder tweak and upper pectoralis rip. Thankfully I'm only sore today so think my form stayed ok.
 
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Started working out in the morning before work this week, finding it pretty difficult to motivate myself, and i'm lacking energy and intensity.

Going to stick with it for a few weeks to try and work through it and find a better pre workout routine to help me through. Just wondered if any of you worked out early in the morning before work and had any pointers to what you find helps.
 
Darryl_1983 said:
Started working out in the morning before work this week, finding it pretty difficult to motivate myself, and i'm lacking energy and intensity.

Going to stick with it for a few weeks to try and work through it and find a better pre workout routine to help me through. Just wondered if any of you worked out early in the morning before work and had any pointers to what you find helps.
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I'm usually in by 6:30. Just need to get in and start warming up really....The last few weeks have been a struggle mind :D

I only take a bit of Taurine before I get to the gym, other than that nothing special.
 
Quick update on exploitah aka Ben. He has been rather busy of late and hasn't had the chance to update his log here (or even on his own site) but I thought I'd keep those of you who were interested update-to-date!

Ben ended up with a last minute invite to compete at Britain's Strongest Man on the Saturday just gone (15 March). He only had just over two week's prep but managed to put in a sterling effort and achieve 5th place (to put that into perspective, veteran strongman Mark Felix came 6th!).

There's a video of the comp on youtube:


Ben's fifth place finish qualified him for World's Strongest Man. Only slight issue being it starts this Saturday. Ben flew out to Los Angeles yesterday and will be competing over the weekend in his qualifier group against some rather scary people. His group includes Thor Björnsson who people will soon recognise as the man who plays Gregor Clegane in the upcoming season of Game of Thrones. The events in his group and the short notice aren't ideal but - you never know - he might surprise himself!

I'll be updating the website in my signature with results as they trickle through for anyone interested.
 
Delvis said:
I'm usually in by 6:30. Just need to get in and start warming up really....The last few weeks have been a struggle mind :D

I only take a bit of Taurine before I get to the gym, other than that nothing special.
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Thanks for the help,

This has definitely helped my morning workouts.

I've stopped eating breakfast before the gym and am instead having a pre workout drink consisting of; 5g BCAA, 5g Creatine, 1g Taurine, 20g Dextrose about 30 minutes before i start my workout.
 
Darryl_1983 said:
Started working out in the morning before work this week, finding it pretty difficult to motivate myself, and i'm lacking energy and intensity.

Going to stick with it for a few weeks to try and work through it and find a better pre workout routine to help me through. Just wondered if any of you worked out early in the morning before work and had any pointers to what you find helps.
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Like Delvis I'm in the gym at 6:30, I get up at around 5:30 and do my stretching at home before the gym opens so I can get to the rack first :p

I just have an espresso and MyProtein Exceed (BCAA with cit malate and beta alanine) around 15 mins before/during work out.
 
To be fair my evenings were just being spent plonked in front of the tv watching whatever **** happened to be on so at least I'm doing something productive these days even if it means I don't sit down till gone 9 most days.
 
I've pretty much always trained in the evenings, But just recently my gym has been packed with new members. I expected it in the new year then to die down come feb, but it's just not happened, if anything it's got busier.

Plus the new olympic bars they've bought recently are shockingly poor, so instead of there being 8 bars to use, there is only 2 decent quality bars left. Which i've complained about, but don't expect anything to be done about it.

I'd leave, but my brother joined in january and signed up for 12 months, so i'd feel a bit guilty leaving until i know he knows what he's doing.

I'd considered joining a second gym, but I'm actually liking the morning workouts now, instead of there being 50+ guys in the weights area, there is maybe 6-7 max. Also having the evenings free is quite nice.

Maxeh said:
Like Delvis I'm in the gym at 6:30, I get up at around 5:30 and do my stretching at home before the gym opens so I can get to the rack first :p

I just have an espresso and MyProtein Exceed (BCAA with cit malate and beta alanine) around 15 mins before/during work out.
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I looked at the pre mixed stuff, but it worked out a lot cheaper to mix my own, i worked out i've got 100 servings of what i listed above for roughly £40

Might look into the other ingredients you listed though for my next order.
 
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