*** The 2018 Gym Rats Thread ***

can you guys recommend any alternatives to barbell squating as i cant get my arms back enough to grip the bar. been using the Change of Direction machine but that is quickly becoming to light on resistance.
 
can you guys recommend any alternatives to barbell squating as i cant get my arms back enough to grip the bar. been using the Change of Direction machine but that is quickly becoming to light on resistance.

Dumbbell squats?

Wider grip on the barbell so that your shoulders don’t have to go back as far and elbows back slightly?

There must be a way.
 
can you guys recommend any alternatives to barbell squating as i cant get my arms back enough to grip the bar. been using the Change of Direction machine but that is quickly becoming to light on resistance.

Front squats with the fatman (California) grip.

The actual answer is to fix your thoracic spine and shoulder mobility unless you have a medical condition that stops you doing it. ;)
 
Assuming you have a bench of some sort, a pull-up bar and a couple of sturdy plyo boxes you have the choice of...

Upper body pushing:
Push-ups (banded or weighted if you use a dip belt around the middle of your torso and elevate yourself on the plyo boxes+bench)
Dips (weighted, requires a couple of parallel bars)
DB flat/incline press
DB shoulder press
DB floor press
------- (more isolation type stuff) ------
DB lateral raises/upright rows (can be used with bands to provide more consistent tension through the range of motion)
DB around the worlds/circular flys
Floor slider/dual ab-wheel flys
All sorts of tricep isolation movements (lying extensions, overhead extensions, French press, Tate press etc)


Upper body pulling:
Chin/pull-ups
Inverted rows
Rack chins/pull ups (pull up bar plus bench)
DB rows
DB seal rows (bench + plyo boxes)
-------
All kinds of curl variations (incline curls, standing, concentration, spider, hammer, etc)
Face-pulls/bent over reverse flys (can used with bands...)


Lower body anterior dominant:
DB goblet squat on plyo boxes
DB belt squat on plyo boxes
DB rear foot elevated split squat
DB split squat
DB step-up (onto box/bench)
DB wall squat (w/exercise ball)
DB cossack squat/lateral lunges
DB single leg box squat
DB lunges/reverse lunges
----------
DB lying leg extensions (on bench/boxes)
Pistol/shrimp/sissy squats (bodyweight)
Zombie leg extensions (bodyweight)


Lower body posterior dominant:
DB RDL/single leg RDL
DB Good Mornings
DB deadlift (DBs would need to be elevated off floor slightly)
DB hip-thrust (on bench)/glute bridge also single legged versions
DB seated good morning
------------
DB hamstring curls (hang off pull-up bar)
Gliding leg curls (requires carpet slider things or an exercise ball)
Nordic curls (needs pad for knees and some way of locking your feet)
DB frog pumps
DB single leg calf raises (seated, standing, w/front of feet elevated slightly)

Then obviously there's a million things for core. You'd have to build up a collection of dumbbells and fractional plates (magnetic ideally) to be able to progressively overload in sensible increments for many of these.
 
can you guys recommend any alternatives to barbell squating as i cant get my arms back enough to grip the bar. been using the Change of Direction machine but that is quickly becoming to light on resistance.
Why cant you get your arms back enough to grip the bar? Is there an underlying issue or are you just trying to grip the bar with to narrow a grip? Is the bar positioned correctly on your back?

There are alternatives, dumbbells, kettlebells etc and focus on single leg work, but its important to understand why you cant barbell back squat first.
 
Why cant you get your arms back enough to grip the bar? Is there an underlying issue or are you just trying to grip the bar with to narrow a grip? Is the bar positioned correctly on your back?

There are alternatives, dumbbells, kettlebells etc and focus on single leg work, but its important to understand why you cant barbell back squat first.

Leg press is easier? :D
 
Anyone had MyProtein's unflavoured stuff?

I was messing around with my cart and accidentally bought 2.5kg of unflavoured. Not too bad as i was considering on buying it anyway to mix with flavoured stuff as its usually way too sweet. Every flavour ive tried has been too sickly sweet to stomach for more than 5Kgs worth except for mocha. That said, i only mix with warm-ish black coffee now to get a nice creamy rich drink rather than with milk or cold water. Hopefully it isn't too far off just using milk powder...
 
Anyone had MyProtein's unflavoured stuff?

I was messing around with my cart and accidentally bought 2.5kg of unflavoured. Not too bad as i was considering on buying it anyway to mix with flavoured stuff as its usually way too sweet. Every flavour ive tried has been too sickly sweet to stomach for more than 5Kgs worth except for mocha. That said, i only mix with warm-ish black coffee now to get a nice creamy rich drink rather than with milk or cold water. Hopefully it isn't too far off just using milk powder...

I have to mix it with something flavoured. It is grim on its own. I go for natural chocolate.
 
Anyone had MyProtein's unflavoured stuff?

I was messing around with my cart and accidentally bought 2.5kg of unflavoured. Not too bad as i was considering on buying it anyway to mix with flavoured stuff as its usually way too sweet. Every flavour ive tried has been too sickly sweet to stomach for more than 5Kgs worth except for mocha. That said, i only mix with warm-ish black coffee now to get a nice creamy rich drink rather than with milk or cold water. Hopefully it isn't too far off just using milk powder...

I have to mix it with something flavoured. It is grim on its own. I go for natural chocolate.

I only ever buy unflavoured whey and I find the flavours too artificial and overpowering. The plain powder has just a fairly mild, well, whey-like taste. :) Certainly not unpleasant to my palate, just like a thicker, slightly more milky/malty milk.

Although, that does raise the point that I only ever drink it either mixed with a cup of skimmed milk per scoop or in a shake with peanut butter and a banana. Not tried it with water.

Mind you, I will also (and frequently do) happily eat a whole tub of unflavoured fat-free Greek yoghurt or quark so perhaps I'm just weird...
 
I do that with quark or greek yoghurt just because its the first thing i can see in the fridge.

The MyProtein guys said i can swap it for free if i send it back when i rang up to change the order but unfortunately had already shipped it. I think i will keep it and give it a go.

So far i have tried:

Mocha - Best so far to mix with milk/coffee, still a bit on the sweet side but the most bearable. Mixes really smooth with warm coffee or milk

Cookies and cream - Waaaay too sweet

Chocolate - Its alright, a bit on the sweet side. Found it didn't mix as well as some

Vanilla - sweet but light taste

Peanut butter and chocolate - Can only eat it with porridge due to how strong the flavour is

Coffee Caramel - too sweet but goes well blended with coffee and other bits

I think if i go half unflavoured and half flavoured i would probably enjoy all of the above a lot more. I wondered if maybe whey had a super strong taste due to how sweet they make the flavoured stuff but apparently it isnt that strong
 
I just got my first delivery of whey today. Myprotein villa. Fairly rancid but may be I need to be mixing it with milk rather than water.
 
Anyone had MyProtein's unflavoured stuff?

I was messing around with my cart and accidentally bought 2.5kg of unflavoured. Not too bad as i was considering on buying it anyway to mix with flavoured stuff as its usually way too sweet. Every flavour ive tried has been too sickly sweet to stomach for more than 5Kgs worth except for mocha. That said, i only mix with warm-ish black coffee now to get a nice creamy rich drink rather than with milk or cold water. Hopefully it isn't too far off just using milk powder...

I always buy unflavoured as I'd get bored sticking to kilos of one flavour at a time. I buy their Flavdrops as they're calorie-free, but have also used Nequick powder and other similar products.
 
Why cant you get your arms back enough to grip the bar? Is there an underlying issue or are you just trying to grip the bar with to narrow a grip? Is the bar positioned correctly on your back?

There are alternatives, dumbbells, kettlebells etc and focus on single leg work, but its important to understand why you cant barbell back squat first.
I dont know dude i just cant. saw someone using a front grip last night so gonna give that a try on friday if widening the grip doesnt work
 
Love a bit of Nesquik to increase calories.

The powder is actually pretty low calorie. They only have the nutritional information on the pack for a serving of powder + 200ml semi-skimmed milk, so I subtracted the milk macros off that and was surprised how little 15g was. Tesco do some no-added sugar milkshake powder as well in the usualy choc/strawberry/banana flavours that worked fine too.
 
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