*** The 2014 Gym Rats Thread ***

tom_e said:
Start off by reading this thread http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17401146
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Thanks

I forgot to mention that I'm clued up about macros etc - what I've managed to get wrong all this time is my calorie intake. All I've been able to is maintain or gain (expenditure is not enough).

So really, I wanted to ask how should I go about adding expenditure?

Should I just add weights (stronglifts) to my regime (3x per week) and carry on eating the same way? Then wait until a plateau?

Or should I go 'all in' and add cardio ontop of that

I'm aware the body adapts (hence plateau's), wondering if people have any real life experience and could comment on the most optimum way I can shift it. :).

thanks

tom_e said:
You also don't need the cardio to drop fat so to be honest unless you enjoy grinding away on a treadmill I wouldn't bother, I only do cardio because my gym has a pool and I enjoy women in bikinis.
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Well, I am eating 1700 calories and dropping between 0-1lb a week at most. I can't really drop the calories anymore, I think they are quite low as it is? Adding cardio should help keep metabolism up (by decent intake) and cardio adding to the deficit I already have from eating less food?
 
Start with the weights, cut kcals then add in the cardio. Would be the order I'd do it in when you reach sticking points, and is exactly what I done when I was in the same position as you but about 30lbs heavier.
 
Can anyone recommend a non-Olympic bar that will fit in a Bodymax power rack? A 7ft Olympic bar is too heavy for my missus for anything other than a squat so need a cheap "normal" bar and some light weights. Ideally I was hoping just to buy something from Argos or similar as she wont be lifting much at all but none of the cheap bars seem to give the width between the collars. The width or the rack is 116 cm's.

Thanks

Edit - Just had a thought, would it be an issue using a bar where the weights would be inside the rack as opposed to the outside if that makes sense? The end of the bar would still hit the stops and the safety if something happened although I admit it could get pear shaped if she was lifting anything substantial and didnt locate the bar on the pins properly when she's finished a set.

Edit 2 - My previous googling skills failed me but it appears you can get a standard 7ft bar which I assume will fit the rack?
 
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I can't see a problem with the weights being inside the catchers tbh, although I also can't imagine it will take her long to out grow the need for a lighter bar.
I train with my house mate and she went from totally untrained to lifting an empty oly bar for anything barbell based within about 6 weeks but that was more down to her being cautious than not actually being able to lift it.
 
Hey all

Just after advice on my SL5x5 progression. I'm stuck in a conundrum of thinking I should be eating more to get stronger and lift heavier weights but wanting to shift my belly flab which hasn't gone down at all, so worried about overeating.

I'm 6.1" and 177lbs

Started just before Christmas and I'm up to 80kg squats, 90kg DL, 45-50kg Bench, 35-38kg OP. I feel like I can continue going up steady with the Squats and DL but my arm exercises are stalling. I was up to 50kg Bench but failed and have gone down to 5x8 45kg last few sessions, same with 38kg OP, went back to 35.

Should I just stick to what I'm doing and find I'll get stronger soon and be able to go up, or do I need to eat more? gaining weight slowly. I'm gaining around 0.25 lbs a week so far.

Eating good foods. Only issue is sometimes I'll have a beer with my meal at night and finish it with a single pack of crisps afterwards.
 
HankScorpio said:
Hey all

Just after advice on my SL5x5 progression. I'm stuck in a conundrum of thinking I should be eating more to get stronger and lift heavier weights but wanting to shift my belly flab which hasn't gone down at all, so worried about overeating.

I'm 6.1" and 177lbs

Started just before Christmas and I'm up to 80kg squats, 90kg DL, 45-50kg Bench, 35-38kg OP. I feel like I can continue going up steady with the Squats and DL but my arm exercises are stalling. I was up to 50kg Bench but failed and have gone down to 5x8 45kg last few sessions, same with 38kg OP, went back to 35.

Should I just stick to what I'm doing and find I'll get stronger soon and be able to go up, or do I need to eat more? gaining weight slowly. I'm gaining around 0.25 lbs a week so far.

Eating good foods. Only issue is sometimes I'll have a beer with my meal at night and finish it with a single pack of crisps afterwards.
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This may sound harsh, it's not meant to be.
With your lifts at the weights they are and your height and weight being what they are I'm going to guess that while you may have a bit of a wobbly belly there are no other large amounts of fat and not a great deal of lean mass either.
At this stage I'd say continue to progress on SL eat a bit more of the right kinds of food and get a decent base of muscle, you can then start to worry about losing the belly without ending up looking like a malnourished child.

Stop finishing your meal with packets of crisps too! and the beer. That alone will add the best part of 500 empty calories each time you do it.
 
Cheers man. And it's not harsh at all. I was like Neo when he was taken out of the matrix before I started. Like no muscle/fat on my arms, though my legs weren't skinny and had a build up of flab around my back/torso. Just noticed that my back fat has nearly all vanished, handles have gone but my belly still remains. Love the visible progression I've made so far, albeit even if it is only small changes like actual shoulders showing and a bit of an upper chest. My sister told me I've become 'stocky' ha. Really motivates me to work out 3 times a week. Only missed 1 session since Christmas when I went to Anfield on Wednesday night a few weeks ago.

Yeah I've not got much fat anywhere else, just the rolls when I crunch. and I'll try to cut out the beer and after dinner snacking, even if it is a single pack of crisps.

Cheers.
 
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Mark M said:
Can anyone recommend a non-Olympic bar that will fit in a Bodymax power rack? A 7ft Olympic bar is too heavy for my missus for anything other than a squat so need a cheap "normal" bar and some light weights. Ideally I was hoping just to buy something from Argos or similar as she wont be lifting much at all but none of the cheap bars seem to give the width between the collars. The width or the rack is 116 cm's.

Thanks

Edit - Just had a thought, would it be an issue using a bar where the weights would be inside the rack as opposed to the outside if that makes sense? The end of the bar would still hit the stops and the safety if something happened although I admit it could get pear shaped if she was lifting anything substantial and didnt locate the bar on the pins properly when she's finished a set.

Edit 2 - My previous googling skills failed me but it appears you can get a standard 7ft bar which I assume will fit the rack?
Click to expand...

Errr... what are you trying to get her to do? All I can think of is pressing, deadlifting and rowing?

If this is the case, get her to do some push-ups first, and then weighted push-ups as this will teach her how to brace her core before 'pressing' the weight. This will help overhead pressing, too, but you may be better off getting her used to just single plates (5kg/whatever) as a single arm press or using a full Olympic disc for a regular press.

For deadlifts, if her posterior chain is that weak that she can't even lift a 20kg bar, then I would suggest some kettlebell-style swings with a weight plate, glute bridged (and weighted ones), and an assortment of other exercises... but I still don't think she'd be that weak.

Rowing? T-Bar rowing.

HankScorpio said:
Hey all

Just after advice on my SL5x5 progression. I'm stuck in a conundrum of thinking I should be eating more to get stronger and lift heavier weights but wanting to shift my belly flab which hasn't gone down at all, so worried about overeating.

I'm 6.1" and 177lbs

Started just before Christmas and I'm up to 80kg squats, 90kg DL, 45-50kg Bench, 35-38kg OP. I feel like I can continue going up steady with the Squats and DL but my arm exercises are stalling. I was up to 50kg Bench but failed and have gone down to 5x8 45kg last few sessions, same with 38kg OP, went back to 35.

Should I just stick to what I'm doing and find I'll get stronger soon and be able to go up, or do I need to eat more? gaining weight slowly. I'm gaining around 0.25 lbs a week so far.

Eating good foods. Only issue is sometimes I'll have a beer with my meal at night and finish it with a single pack of crisps afterwards.
Click to expand...

tom_e's advice is solid gold, here.

tom_e said:
This may sound harsh, it's not meant to be.
With your lifts at the weights they are and your height and weight being what they are I'm going to guess that while you may have a bit of a wobbly belly there are no other large amounts of fat and not a great deal of lean mass either.
At this stage I'd say continue to progress on SL eat a bit more of the right kinds of food and get a decent base of muscle, you can then start to worry about losing the belly without ending up looking like a malnourished child.

Stop finishing your meal with packets of crisps too! and the beer. That alone will add the best part of 500 empty calories each time you do it.
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You have a belly because your diet is rubbish (at outlined above). If you're packing those vital statistics, too, then you're skinny, which will mean that any existing fat you have is spread over a small area (i.e. small muscles).
 
mrthingyx said:
Errr... what are you trying to get her to do? All I can think of is pressing, deadlifting and rowing?

If this is the case, get her to do some push-ups first, and then weighted push-ups as this will teach her how to brace her core before 'pressing' the weight. This will help overhead pressing, too, but you may be better off getting her used to just single plates (5kg/whatever) as a single arm press or using a full Olympic disc for a regular press.

For deadlifts, if her posterior chain is that weak that she can't even lift a 20kg bar, then I would suggest some kettlebell-style swings with a weight plate, glute bridged (and weighted ones), and an assortment of other exercises... but I still don't think she'd be that weak.

Rowing? T-Bar rowing.
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Were going to start doing the 5x5 routine but I think its a case of her just thinking its too heavy. Perhaps rather than spend the money on another bar I'll just spot her and support the weight a bit for her on the bench and shoulder press and gradually spot her less over a week or 2 once she has a bit more confidence.
 
Mark M said:
Were going to start doing the 5x5 routine but I think its a case of her just thinking its too heavy. Perhaps rather than spend the money on another bar I'll just spot her and support the weight a bit for her on the bench and shoulder press and gradually spot her less over a week or 2 once she has a bit more confidence.
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That's what I found, once you give them the confidence that it's not going to crush them then they'll find the strength is there.
 
mrthingyx said:
You have a belly because your diet is rubbish (at outlined above). If you're packing those vital statistics, too, then you're skinny, which will mean that any existing fat you have is spread over a small area (i.e. small muscles).
Click to expand...

Not sure HOW atrocious my diet is yet.

Here's what I had yesterday. Breakfast and shakes are the only routine each day.

*wake up11am* Big bowl of oat porridge with milk and honey. Then 3 scoops of total protien in 500ml milk and a banana.

*work at a desk for 2 hours*

*4pm* Then a bowl of crunchy nut and Rumbles oat cluster raspberry yoghurt cup of tea.

*5pm go to work*

*7.30pm* Tesco sweet chilli chicken wrap, pack of mattersons roast chicken, apple juice

*10pm* Fuel Energy Breakfast Drink Chocolate 330Ml

*11.30pm gym workout*

*1am get home* 2 scoops of my total protein with water

*1.30am* Sirlion beef steak, homemade chips in EV oil and spinach with peppercorn sauce. Packet of crisps and a beer

*4am bed*

Also having 2 omega-3 capsules and 4 multi vitamin pills per day with meals
 
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*4pm* Then a bowl of crunchy nut and Rumbles oat cluster raspberry yoghurt cup of tea. Carb filled nutrient void muck

*5pm go to work*

*7.30pm* Tesco sweet chilli chicken wrap, pack of mattersons roast chicken, apple juice
over processed muck
*10pm* Fuel Energy Breakfast Drink Chocolate 330Ml
My house mate drinks these and iirc packed full of sugar, which isn't too bad as you're drinking pre workout but could do with more protein

If you couldn't guess I have a real problem with cereal being marketed as healthy considering it's for the most part as bad as ramming cake down your hole, the same goes for those things like the Uncle Ben lunch pot things which are just rice and a horribly processed sugar filled sauce with not even a wiff of protein or healthy fat but that's a whole other rant which my house mate got yesterday when she sat down to a batchelors cheese and broccoli pasta snack pot thing and I was ever so slightly over harsh about why I spend my time helping her at the gym if she's going to eat that soggy cardboard :o
 
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Started creatine loading for the first time and my farts are evacuating rooms. Im also having atleast 4 dumps a day. Is this normal??
 
To be honest Hank, sort out your lunches and the random cereal snack and it will help no end, then naturally assess why you're having so many scoops of whey. While milk is good it can be pretty calorific also.
 
Thinking of starting the StrongLift program, I've got literally no experience with lifting weights at the moment so what sort of things would people recommend/advise? Also I'm mildly concerned about looking like a muppet going into the gym and just lifting the bar, although tbh i'd probably look more stupid loading it up and failing there XD
 
toasteh said:
Thinking of starting the StrongLift program, I've got literally no experience with lifting weights at the moment so what sort of things would people recommend/advise? Also I'm mildly concerned about looking like a muppet going into the gym and just lifting the bar, although tbh i'd probably look more stupid loading it up and failing there XD
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SL is perfect for someone like yourself, and don't be worried about starting with just the bar we all started somewhere.
You may even find that you can lift more than you thought.
Check out here http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html and here http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18398834 if you need some pointers on how to carry out the exercises correctly.
 
toasteh said:
Thinking of starting the StrongLift program, I've got literally no experience with lifting weights at the moment so what sort of things would people recommend/advise? Also I'm mildly concerned about looking like a muppet going into the gym and just lifting the bar, although tbh i'd probably look more stupid loading it up and failing there XD
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Stronglifts is a brilliant program and I wouldn't worry about starting out with just the bar. You're better off lifting the bar and getting the form right and identifying any areas that may need correcting, mobility for example, rather than being superman and causing an injury or plateauing early into the program.
 
Right, proper noob question time: what sort of clothes do you guys wear when lifting? obviously i'm not going to the gym in skinny jeans but would i be alright in cargo shorts? i'm not planning on doing any cardio (get enough of that in the pool) but i don't want to look a plonker in the gym...
 
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