*** The 2014 Gym Rats Thread ***

I'm thinking about getting my first lifting belt, any recommendations?

I've been lifting on and off for about 10 years, pretty consistantly for the past year or so, and my lifts are getting pretty decent now, and i'd like to incorparate the use of a belt for my 1 rep max squats and deadlifts to try and prevent injury more than anything else.

Currently my squat is 170 and dead is 230.
 
Was just hoping for some feedback on my diet. Recently got back into the gym and am working on a 3 day split of back/triceps, chest/biceps and shoulders/legs. Then I'm planning a 4th day of cardio once a week. I weight 230lb and am 6 foot tall and fairly muscular already, but still at probably 30% BF. My aim is to cut for the next 3 months or so.

My average diet is something like this:

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Any feedback or tweaks I could make would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Darryl_1983 said:
I'm thinking about getting my first lifting belt, any recommendations?

I've been lifting on and off for about 10 years, pretty consistantly for the past year or so, and my lifts are getting pretty decent now, and i'd like to incorparate the use of a belt for my 1 rep max squats and deadlifts to try and prevent injury more than anything else.

Currently my squat is 170 and dead is 230.
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Whilst I don't use a belt, I've put a reasonable amount of research into whether or not I should use one...

The bottom line I seem to have reached is that they won't prevent injury and will actually cause even more problems if used incorrectly, too.

They will help if you're bracing is going (i.e. you're getting tired and can't brace properly), but then my question would be whether or not you are squatting with your good motor pattern if you can't brace anyway.

I know a few people on here use them and swear by them (and disagree with me! :D), but they are not (IMHO) the solution 98% of the lifting community appear to think they are.
 
mrthingyx said:
More brotein, more fat, fewer carbs.

And why, oh WHY!!?!?!?!?! are you thinking of doing cardio yet eating sandwiches and crisps for lunch?
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Wouldn't usually have the crisps in honesty. That was just today's example. The sandwiches are made with sandwich thins, wholewheat.

I was under the impression that aslong as I'm sticking to my macro's does it really matter that much?

With regards to the cardio, that was just to help burn more calories in a week really, seeing as my goal is cutting. Would I be better carrying on with weights, or just resting completely?
 
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Hmm..I thought I was doing well getting 110-120g of protein per day but perhaps I should up it. I'm pretty much constantly cutting and also doing an amount of cardio that would get me thrown out of the gym rats bro down pretty sharpish though.
 
tom_e said:
Mrthingyx's point is why torture yourself with the cardio when you could just drop the crisps for the same effect.
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Lol, true, but as above the point of the cardio is purely to bring down my weekly calorie consumption.

As long as I am within my macros for a day then I can't go wrong.... Am I right in thinking this or is that not quite accurate?
 
Sleeve said:
Lol, true, but as above the point of the cardio is purely to bring down my weekly calorie consumption.

As long as I am within my macros for a day then I can't go wrong.... Am I right in thinking this or is that not quite accurate?
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Without going too in depth with hormonal responses and things like that is it for the most part correct, at the end of the day you can either eat less or burn more.
To begin with I'd recommend just eating less which then gives you the ability to bring the cardio in when you start to stall and means you won't end up having to survive on rabbit food to see fat loss.

FrenchTart said:
Personally I see it as torturing myself by not having treats... but then I enjoy my cardio (cycling).
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To be fair it's very much personal choice, if you find a form of cardio you enjoy then it's a good tool but if you're having to force yourself into the grind of doing cardio then it becomes mentally counterproductive in the long run.

At the end of the day there's absolutely no need to do cardio to reach a fat loss goal, which a lot of people just starting out don't understand they feel they must do cardio to lose fat.
 
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Sleeve said:
Lol, true, but as above the point of the cardio is purely to bring down my weekly calorie consumption.

As long as I am within my macros for a day then I can't go wrong.... Am I right in thinking this or is that not quite accurate?
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The point is you don't need cardio to lose weight. It's all diet.

When your weight loss stalls, then bring in some cardio for that 'extra push', but no point from the start.

/edit beaten!
 
tom_e said:
To be fair it's very much personal choice, if you find a form of cardio you enjoy then it's a good tool but if you're having to force yourself into the grind of doing cardio then it becomes mentally counterproductive in the long run.

At the end of the day there's absolutely no need to do cardio to reach a fat loss goal, which a lot of people just starting out don't understand they feel they must do cardio to lose fat.
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Absolutely makes sense. I feel that my cardio negatively impacts my strength gains to be honest. If I didn't still want to shift a good portion of fat and had better willpower when it came to food I'd probably reduce it a huge amount (though I'd miss it, especially in the nice weather).
 
Sleeve said:
Lol, true, but as above the point of the cardio is purely to bring down my weekly calorie consumption.

As long as I am within my macros for a day then I can't go wrong.... Am I right in thinking this or is that not quite accurate?
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You're not wrong re: macros, but the best starting point in my experience is 40/40/20, which you're not at.

Something like 180p/180c/40f would be a good start, though personally I prefer more fat less carbs.
 
Sleeve said:
So how do I replace the cardio day? Just have 3 workout days, or restart my 3 day split on the 4th day?
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Do you dislike the cardio and/or is it just there to bring down your kcal?

If you replace cardio with rest (if required) or more strength training then you'll certainly get better strength training results. If you keep the cardio in you'll still get good strength results and some running/whatever cardio endurance results. Go for whatever your goals are I guess.

The points above about cardio and not eating crisps were basically trying to say that if you can control your diet better you really don't *need* to do the cardio as your kcal intake will be lower whilst maintaining your macros.
 
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