*** The 2018 Gym Rats Thread ***

[mrthingyx]

Well I went to Physio for my hip, and on the whole I had pretty bad form.
Coming back into things I'm finding my elbows get sore getting under the bar, and I can feel that my shoulders/back have slackened
and I'm looking for pointers on what I should look/feel for to know I'm getting it right, because I feel like I'm lifting my shoulders into the bar like a shrug almost, and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing haha.

Apply the same principles as deadlifting or squatting: shoulders back and down. A "big chest" is another way of cue-ing the movement

If you think of the way your shoulders move, pressing puts tension and torque on the shoulder joint. As such, your shoulder blades, back (rhomboids, traps, lats and serratus) need to work with your rotator cuff to keep your shoulder from exploding - this happens by getting elbows under the bar, but also by bracing your shoulders (back and down).

You might want to look at your shoulder rotation (internal and external) as well as joint capsule restrictions. Then have a look at your upper back mobility, too: can you get it really straight when bracing?

 

[GiraffePencils]

Apply the same principles as deadlifting or squatting: shoulders back and down. A "big chest" is another way of cue-ing the movement

If you think of the way your shoulders move, pressing puts tension and torque on the shoulder joint. As such, your shoulder blades, back (rhomboids, traps, lats and serratus) need to work with your rotator cuff to keep your shoulder from exploding - this happens by getting elbows under the bar, but also by bracing your shoulders (back and down).

You might want to look at your shoulder rotation (internal and external) as well as joint capsule restrictions. Then have a look at your upper back mobility, too: can you get it really straight when bracing?

Lots to think about haha.
The physio got me focusing on lots of core bracing, as that's where the weakness that lead to the injury came from.
And I've found that having my mind on that has left me at the end of the rep with none of my back tensed like it was.
Practice practice practice

 

[Kris_90]

For those that don't know: isometrics are like eccentrics: stronger contractions than concentrics, making them a useful addition to a routine to break plateaus or just make yourself hurt horribly.

I assume you need to go a lot heavier than your capable of lifting? For example in reiyushin's vid, if the bar came up off the floor, even a little, wouldn't that massively increase chances of an injury?

 

[LiE]

You don't move isometrics, you simply attempt to move it.

 

[KiNgPiN83]

You don't move isometrics, you simply attempt to move it.

For whatever reason i can only reead this as You don't move isometrics, isometrics move you.

 

[reiyushin]

Depends on the goal. I need to get to maximum voluntary contraction so the bar is loaded well beyond my capability.

You can load a weight you can lift and perform isometrics with a less than maximal force. Perhaps to improve positioning or strengthen a weakpoint.

It's a different way of gaining time under tension.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Have switched to a wider grip and thumb over for squats. Has definitely helped my suddenly sore shoulder.

Edit: yep, not a single niggle. Has taken a lot of strain off. Will also skip a few exercises this week.

 

[mrthingyx]

Have switched to a wider grip and thumb over for squats. Has definitely helped my suddenly sore shoulder.

Edit: yep, not a single niggle. Has taken a lot of strain off. Will also skip a few exercises this week.

Yup... Sounds like a shoulder rotation problem; probably with something else buried in there, too.

 

[Rids]

Still battling my shoulder tweak, its nowhere near as bad as it was... and I decided to do some light bench work yesterday as I'm easing myself back in.

I think I know the route of the problem, when I get deep into a set I seem to push my shoulder forward off the bench, I'm guessing its a fatigue thing and I'm aware of it. Any recommendations for how to correct this?

 

[iBSOD]

after 2 weeks off, my muscles look pretty deflated. then 3 days back on (PPL split) at 3000cal and within a day theyre back to previous size. Is this water or glucose?

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Still battling my shoulder tweak, its nowhere near as bad as it was... and I decided to do some light bench work yesterday as I'm easing myself back in.

I think I know the route of the problem, when I get deep into a set I seem to push my shoulder forward off the bench, I'm guessing its a fatigue thing and I'm aware of it. Any recommendations for how to correct this?

Pretty standard tbh. I see loads of people towards the end of sets or when they put the weight up too much putting their shoulders into it. I am even occasionally guilty towards the end when I start to lose focus. Shoulders back and squeeze your chest into it (and back and shoulders into the bench) - if you can't do this and need to use your shoulders then you need to lower the weight or stop on whatever rep you start doing it on.

For the first time today in about 8 months I have plateau'd on my incline press. All other chest exercises increasing in weight. My shoulder is still not 100%, but nearly there after a bit of a rest. It makes a difference, even when not relying on them. Happy with 8 sets of 90kg at 3 reps each, far better than my pre-injured incline max. I don't think I have been eating enough, I have developed quite defined abs over the last week (I generally take this as a lack of gainz)

 

[reiyushin]

Still battling my shoulder tweak, its nowhere near as bad as it was... and I decided to do some light bench work yesterday as I'm easing myself back in.

I think I know the route of the problem, when I get deep into a set I seem to push my shoulder forward off the bench, I'm guessing its a fatigue thing and I'm aware of it. Any recommendations for how to correct this?

Yea, drop the amount of reps your doing per set. You can do more sets if you want to make up the work but rep quality matters. Don't forget that these movements have a skill component and that executing them incorrectly works against you in the long term.

You wouldn't rep out deadlifts when your back rounds so don't hammer out reps on the bench with sketchy form

 

[Rids]

Thanks guys - I'll try and get somebody to video my form and see if you can pull any other holes in what I'm doing!

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Upped my deadlift weight by a bit more this week. Can certainly feel it! Problem is my old rib injury is flaring up from last year when I whacked it go karting. Managed to get through the session, but now having to ice it.

At least my shoulder feels A Ok! Haha.

 

[Chuk_Chuk]

I'm having trouble progressing in my bench. Struggling to hit 3x5 at 97.5kg. Any tips on how I can overcome my plateau? Would it be worth doing other variations of bench press?

 

[opethdisciple]

Oops wrong thread.

 

[mrthingyx]

I'm having trouble progressing in my bench. Struggling to hit 3x5 at 97.5kg. Any tips on how I can overcome my plateau? Would it be worth doing other variations of bench press?

Drop down to the maximum weight you can knock out 10-12 reps with, the do 4 sets of 8 at that weight.

Bench three times a week increasing 2.5kg each time, whilst eating everything and sleeping like a student.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Saturday morning in the weight room. Two guys, one with a camera, one takes his shirt off and starts doing poses and ab exercises on the pull up bar. People looking at each other all thinking the same thing

Funny world we live in now. So many instagram gym goers with stacks of followers using terrible form. Can imagine there being waves of people with gym aggravated injuries when they all get old. One of them was even a bodybuilding.com rep spouting on about all these chest exercises to develop her shoulders, meanwhile flaring her elbows in and out like crazy!

 

[Chuk_Chuk]

Drop down to the maximum weight you can knock out 10-12 reps with, the do 4 sets of 8 at that weight.

Bench three times a week increasing 2.5kg each time, whilst eating everything and sleeping like a student.

University student or secondary school student

Thanks I'll try it out. Just wondering would this apply to other exercise?

 

[Somnambulist]

3 sets of 5 is great when you're starting out but after a while you're simply going to have to add volume to progress. Whether that's more volume via the same movement, similar movement pattern or same muscles depends on how advanced a lifter you are, and if you're training for anything specific.