*** The 2014 Gym Rats Thread ***

Freefaller said:
Need more squats, you need to deadlift, and worry less about rubbish exercises like shrugs, upright rows, pull downs (do pull ups/chins instead), and do a lot less arm volume. There's just no point in doing SO much arm work - they're small muscles that are stimulated by other exercises anyway.

More compound movements: bench, OHP, squats, deadlifts.

More decent accessory exercises such as, walking lunges, front squats, bulgarian split squats, reverse lunges, kettle bell swings, glute ham raises, romanian deadlifts, pull ups/chin ups, DB Push press, bent over rows, dips.

Less ab work and more core work, pallof press, roll outs, dragon flags, kb squat with pulse etc...
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Where should i add more squats into my workout?(maybe do several compounds on Friday?) i do 5 sets of them on Sunday.Deadlifts i am not doing at the moment as i can never get perfect form :( do not want to injure my lower back but will try them again with low weight as practice first.

I do pullups/chins but only once a week, think i'll do them twice a week and remove some of the exercises you say, thanks for criticising as i knew there were some i can rid but wasn't sure which.

My arms aren't that big at the moment and need more strength from them so it's just temporary although i do pushups aswell to help with upper body strength.

I am changing my workout in a month anyway so will rebuild it totally from scratch with deadlifts/benchpress/squat/ohp twice a week of each with chins/pullups/dips/rows mixed in and a few other good exercises.

Problem with me though is my leftside is struggling on higher dumbells due to my grip being less than right(broken fingers) so might start using one of those grip squeeze things daily which should help?
 
What would be the best way for me to practice deadlifts? i know how to do them but i always end up not straightening my back fully....think i need to push my chest outwards always when doing to stop that.

I'll scrap the arm workout on Friday, try Deadlift/Bench/Dips/Pullups in that day instead?

I've gained good size but want a fair bit more, i look lean/toned now....was 37 inch waist in Sept now 32 but need mass. :D

When i redo workout i'll make sure the 4 main compounds are used twice a week.
 
mrthingyx said:
Beaten by both tom_e and Freefaller... :D

Also... guess which exercise builds big traps, strong back, awesome legs and - more importantly here - a strong grip?

DEADLIFTS! :)
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And there's nothing more manly than picking heavy **** up!

Try and get some videos of your deadlifts and post them in the form thread, the guys on here are very good at picking apart form and giving you ques to help fix it.

Oh and get some liquid chalk, it's a lifesaver for grip.
 
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Sycho said:
I want to ask the experienced people on here, basically how can i train each muscle group twice a week in a 5 times a week schedule? i only can go gym in morning so can't go twice a day.
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HST routine and enjoy your extra 2 days of freedom. Next.
 
Day 1 - Chest & Legs
Day 2 - Back
Day 3 - Shoulders (and arms if you must)
Day 4 - Chest & Legs
Day 5 - Back

Your shoulders will be hit by doing chest and back work out, but I've put in a day for you so that you can do some dedicated if you want.

alternatively you can add a 2nd back day onto the shoulder day freeing up a day for you. The reason there's so much emphasis on the back, is that you should always do at least 1/3rd more back work than you do chest work. Your back is one of the biggest muscle groups after your legs.

Vital for posture and overall strength. Strong legs + strong back = invincible.
 
I know it's probably different for everyone but how do you work out what weight you should be lifting? I think I normally fatigue from going too heavy because going too light feels too easy. When I first started benching I started at 60% of my 1RM and was meant to increase over 6 weeks, but I ended up finishing it in only 4 weeks. While it did increase strength I don't think I'm maximising what could be possible.
 
Errr... this does depend on a lot of factors and is largely influenced by trainimg history and your goals.

Hypertrophy will require less intensity as the objective is time under tension: less serious weight means more reps means more time under tension. Strength requires greater intensity = higher weights for fewer reps.

Training history will determine how much intensity you can handle over a given training period or block.

So what do you actually want, and how long have you been training?
 
Sycho said:
I want to ask the experienced people on here, basically how can i train each muscle group twice a week in a 5 times a week schedule? i only can go gym in morning so can't go twice a day.

My current workout is: (which has been working fine for past 4 months or so though would like criticism or suggestions if needing to change anything)
Thanks.:)
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You either do an upper/lower split x4 a week such as
Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine (his one is a basic template you can adapt)
PHUL (power/hypertrophy upper/lower)
5/3/1 x4 a week

Or there are x5 a week protocols like
Layne Norton's PHAT (power/hyertrophy adaptive training) which breaks one of the upper days into two
Alberto Nunez (Team 3DMJ coach)'s upper/lower split which has an extra light day for a lagging bodypart

Depends on your level of advancement and goals.
 
mrthingyx said:
So what do you actually want, and how long have you been training?
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I want to go a bit past to toned stage on pecs and biceps to show actual muscle definition to start (arms are noticeably bigger) and then start to build from their. (weirdly I've already noticed a slight taper to my shoulder)
only started lifting/weight loss in January, but now I'm trying the increase to weight training as the weight loss has gone quite well so far.
May just be wishful thinking as it's only been 4 months but I hoped for greater strength gains.
I can only bench about 65kg and only curl about 15kg dumbells. A lot of cycling means I'm more focused on arms/shoulders/chest at the minute.
 
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metamorphpwner said:
I want to go a bit past to toned stage on pecs and biceps to show actual muscle definition to start (arms are noticeably bigger) and then start to build from their. (weirdly I've already noticed a slight taper to my shoulder)
only started lifting/weight loss in January, but now I'm trying the increase to weight training as the weight loss has gone quite well so far.
May just be wishful thinking as it's only been 4 months but I hoped for greater strength gains.
I can only bench about 65kg and only curl about 15kg dumbells. A lot of cycling means I'm more focused on arms/shoulders/chest at the minute.
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Right... so much to work with, here... ;)

Practically, my response will be "Stronglifts" to you, because - if you're only been training for a few months - this is the most appropriate, generic regime for you that will make you strong and give you good size n quite a balanced manner.

I can explain the reasoning if you want, but I think you should have a read through the links in the OP.

Essentially, this routine will get you used to lifting heavy, it will work your whole body (yes, your legs need work because no, they aren't strong) and you will gain size in all the important places.

If you DESPERATELY want to work your arms, then do chinups.

To put it simply (and I apologise if this is wide of the mark), you don't sound like you really know what you're doing, so a structured and basic routine will probably work wonders. :)

Try it. I think you'll like it. ;)
 
And lots of cycling does not mean you neglect your legs in the gym, cycling does not make them overly strong and does not build any real lean mass.
 
Somnambulist said:
You either do an upper/lower split x4 a week such as
Lyle McDonald's Generic Bulking Routine (his one is a basic template you can adapt)
PHUL (power/hypertrophy upper/lower)
5/3/1 x4 a week

Or there are x5 a week protocols like
Layne Norton's PHAT (power/hyertrophy adaptive training) which breaks one of the upper days into two
Alberto Nunez (Team 3DMJ coach)'s upper/lower split which has an extra light day for a lagging bodypart

Depends on your level of advancement and goals.
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Will look into those thanks for that.

Thanks others and Freefaller for the last post that's very helpful.

Think i'll buy some liquid chalk too.:)
 
enjoying doing stronglifts :) Squats are coming along nicely, started at 30kg and finished 45kg this morning.
Doing the workout that involves deadlifts this morning, i did 40kg which was a little hard but did it without loosing any form at all but i have noticed the weights at nuffield only go up to 45KG and they're those rubber ones fixed to the bar so i can't add any more on.
Any ideas? if there a machine i can use to get the same result or should i just do more reps of 45kg instead of just the one?
 
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