*** The 2018 Gym Rats Thread ***

BRIGGBOY81 said:
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
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As others have said you should get to the root of the problem, but in the meantime you can tie straps to the bar to make a psuedo safety-bar. Old video of when weightlifter (now coach) Max Aita was using them as he'd damaged both his wrists:

 
BRIGGBOY81 said:
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
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Where are you trying to grip the bar, where are you positioning the bar on your back, where is your limitation? There's a lot of questions to answer here. Not being able to get your arms back to reach the bar for a back squat is pretty major.

Front squats is what you are talking about, they are a different movement, provide different stimulus as well, more quad dominant.
 
Well guys, hit my first big goal at the start of this week by loosing a stone. Been tough trying to get my diet in line with my workout routine (not too mention the fat to muscle conversion which was a constant source of being disheartened), specifically due to the lack of hours in the day and the amount of time I waste travelling to and from work, but I got there! Thanks for all the tips and support you guys have given me these past few months, definitely helped in a major way.

Just out of interest, is there any specific work you guys do with you non dominant arm? I do a lot of free-weight exercises and I've reached a bit of a plateau with weight bumping because my left arm just can't seem to finish a rep towards the end of most sets.
 
DrToffnar said:
Well guys, hit my first big goal at the start of this week by loosing a stone. Been tough trying to get my diet in line with my workout routine (not too mention the fat to muscle conversion which was a constant source of being disheartened), specifically due to the lack of hours in the day and the amount of time I waste travelling to and from work, but I got there! Thanks for all the tips and support you guys have given me these past few months, definitely helped in a major way.

Just out of interest, is there any specific work you guys do with you non dominant arm? I do a lot of free-weight exercises and I've reached a bit of a plateau with weight bumping because my left arm just can't seem to finish a rep towards the end of most sets.
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I normally do as many reps as I can with my weak arm then I'll either have a mini rest and do the remainder of the reps or I'll do force reps so I'll lift the weight to the top of the lift with both arms and Control it on the way back down with my weak arm only
 
DrToffnar said:
Well guys, hit my first big goal at the start of this week by loosing a stone. Been tough trying to get my diet in line with my workout routine (not too mention the fat to muscle conversion which was a constant source of being disheartened), specifically due to the lack of hours in the day and the amount of time I waste travelling to and from work, but I got there! Thanks for all the tips and support you guys have given me these past few months, definitely helped in a major way.

Just out of interest, is there any specific work you guys do with you non dominant arm? I do a lot of free-weight exercises and I've reached a bit of a plateau with weight bumping because my left arm just can't seem to finish a rep towards the end of most sets.
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Fat doesn't convert to muscle. They are two entirely different things. The body wont use fat either as a source of building material for muscle. This is a myth.

As for strength disparity between arms just stick at weights you can do and progress at the speed of your weakest arm.
 
Syla5 said:
Fat doesn't convert to muscle. They are two entirely different things. The body wont use fat either as a source of building material for muscle. This is a myth.

As for strength disparity between arms just stick at weights you can do and progress at the speed of your weakest arm.
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Sorry, I meant more in terms of loosing weight due to dieting and gaining muscle as a result of strength and resistance movements.
 
I've been keeping to a set routing the last 8 weeks now that I've sussed how my fast metabolism behaves and what I need to do to grow muscle and noticed a marked improvement in lean physique and also being able to increase progressions, static holds etc.

I started out at around 56KG and am now 61.7KG according to the gym scales.

Nutrition wise I've been eating normally but also added a fixed homemade smoothie combo, one for breakfast (carbs) on workout days and one for after workout which is heavy in protein respectively for muscle repair and growth. The latter I will have every other day anyway as an additional meal to pad out my macro needs. My goal as per thread a while back is to gain lean muscle and end up shredded as I have a very low body fat percentage. Given the past 8 weeks progress, I think this should easily be possible given the routine stays put for a full year, maybe even less. I've been reading other peoples training programs and routines and it's amazing how it can vary so much between each individual. Just proves there is no right or wrong, each program has to be tailored to your own body.

Here's the pre-workout morning smoothie:
carbs.jpg

And the smoothie to have later in the day or early evening:
carbsandprot.jpg

Sadly I accidentally managed to delete the day 1 pic but the below is after 8 weeks, working out 3 times a week and twice weekly boxing training.

progress_8weeks.jpg

At the start of this journey at around 56KG my shoulders, abs and biceps were nearly non existent, everything was flat!

I've been doing mostly bodyweight based routines (Calisthenics) on my own and weight based circuit with a friend, stuff like barbell row (20KG), deadlift (1.6x my body weight and holding each shoulder shrug on a lift for time under tension), squats (40KG building up to 60KG between sets), military press (30KG), pushups (with progressions of explosive & diamond) as well as using resistance bands strapped to vertical parts of gym machines to get full range of motion in forearms, biceps and triceps.

I'll also now be adding the dragon flag to the routine as that's quite tough but my core is a lot stronger now.

It's been quite fun tracking progress over time!
 
After so many years on and off and consequent injuries from progressing too quickly I've started off this year with basics and staying off silly 1RM weights.

With the 5x5 programme I'm now at a point where I can comfortably squat 3 times a week and still be able to walk with only like discomfort during the week :D

Really need to start looking at this mobility thing you all rave about, even with all the warm ups and stretches I can feel my lower back starting to twinge a lot as weights are getting heavier.

Then comes the next big obstacle and a worst possibly time, diet :eek:
 
neoboy said:
Really need to start looking at this mobility thing you all rave about, even with all the warm ups and stretches I can feel my lower back starting to twinge a lot as weights are getting heavier.
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Comes a point where you will want to wear a belt if the weights are getting that heavy and with such frequency. I wouldn’t look back (no pun intended), my back feels better for it and I still have plenty of days where I ditch the belt.
 
BRIGGBOY81 said:
sorry for being dumb but what do you mean :)
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Mobilising is stretching/warming up/building up your weight slowly before lifting. Not necessarily just before working out, you can spend time in the evening doing it while in front of the TV.

neoboy said:
Really need to start looking at this mobility thing you all rave about, even with all the warm ups and stretches I can feel my lower back starting to twinge a lot as weights are getting heavier.
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Something that is very popular amongst the Crossfit community and Olympic Lifters is ROMWOD (gogo Google). Daily stretching programmes that target different areas of the body and is very good at helping mobility.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Comes a point where you will want to wear a belt if the weights are getting that heavy and with such frequency. I wouldn’t look back (no pun intended), my back feels better for it and I still have plenty of days where I ditch the belt.
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Belts are not tools to prevent injury and should not be looked at in that way.

They are a tool to improve bracing capacity which in turn helps reduce injury. However if you aren’t bracing right or using correct form, no belt is going to save you.
 
BRIGGBOY81 said:
sorry for being dumb but what do you mean :)
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You first need to explain what you cannot do, when you can’t get the bar on your back etc. Maybe make a video of you trying to get under the bar in to a back squat position so we can visualise what you mean when you say you can’t do back squats because you can’t get the bar on your back.
 
Syla5 said:
Belts are not tools to prevent injury and should not be looked at in that way.

They are a tool to improve bracing capacity which in turn helps reduce injury. However if you aren’t bracing right or using correct form, no belt is going to save you.
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Exactly, if used correctly they reduce injury. Form still needs to be right, but they certainly add in an extra layer of protection.
 
The belt doesn’t prevent injury, strengthening your core which the belt helps with does. There is a key difference between the two.
 
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