*** The 2018 Gym Rats Thread ***

Crossfit type shoes Reebok Nanos / Nike Metcons / Nobulls barely have any cushioning and are more geared towards a solid sole. Anything more than 800m on a run and I am putting on a pair of running shoes!

Those Asics don't really look geared towards lifting.
 
Jester* said:
Crossfit type shoes Reebok Nanos / Nike Metcons / Nobulls barely have any cushioning and are more geared towards a solid sole. Anything more than 800m on a run and I am putting on a pair of running shoes!

Those Asics don't really look geared towards lifting.
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Yup, I wouldn’t want to run any distance in the metcons!
 
They are definitely stiffer than your regular trainers and nowhere near as much cushioning but obviously not proper lifting shoes for any heavy Olympic lifts. I just got them on a sale for around £25 as general gym shoes.

You can get a pair of Reebok Lifter PR for around £40 at the moment which look alright? Other than that Adidas seem to be the choice, but I'm a cheapskate so rather do it barefoot than shell out £80 :D

I'm still not happy with my squat form and working on it but at least I'm going deep compared to the rest at Pure Gym. Funnily enough it seem to be the girls who have the best form (maybe I just watch them more? ;)), lot of quarter and half "reppers" amongst men but that's commercial gyms for you.
 
neoboy said:
I'm still not happy with my squat form and working on it but at least I'm going deep compared to the rest at Pure Gym. Funnily enough it seem to be the girls who have the best form (maybe I just watch them more? ;)), lot of quarter and half "reppers" amongst men but that's commercial gyms for you.
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I don’t think I’ll ever be happy with my squat form. I don’t have my cues nailed like I do with deadlifts.

To be fair most of the girls in my gym do seem to have better squat and RDL form. Geez, the weight some of them can do on the hip thrusts - it made for a good talking point with one of them last night :p

Loads of guys in my gym barely even get to half. I don’t go for crazy depth, but am happy as long as I break parallel.

Have thrown in leg presses after squats recently to really finish my legs off.
 
I'm still relatively light on my lifts, 100kg and 120kg on squats and deadlifts respectively so making sure I do things right now before it gets heavy and I end up in snap city. Basic 5x5 programme has been helping me return to heavy weights quickly and wake up that muscle memory. After new year I'm going to modify it as I want to deadlift more and start throwing in more exercises around the programme. DOMS are too light now as I can actually get out of bed without collapsing the next morning :p

Funny you mention hip thrusts, I don't know why but I'm way too self conscious to do those around people :D

Lot of girls do seem to have better lower body strength than the guys walking around in tank tops showing off their muscles, suppose coming from rugby background I just always paid more attention to my legs and back strength so concentrated on that instead of upper body.
 
I think it's mostly because men let their egos get in the way, they chuck on more weight than they can handle for a proper rep so they do half reps, whereas women work in full range of motion at a weight they can handle.

I make sure I break parallel with my squat, but don't go too much deeper than that, because at a certain depth my back starts to round and I get a bit of 'butt wink', I think it's a physiology and body composition thing.
 
nicktay2605 said:
I think it's mostly because men let their egos get in the way, they chuck on more weight than they can handle for a proper rep so they do half reps, whereas women work in full range of motion at a weight they can handle.

I make sure I break parallel with my squat, but don't go too much deeper than that, because at a certain depth my back starts to round and I get a bit of 'butt wink', I think it's a physiology and body composition thing.
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I think you mean a structural thing: some people have deep or weirdly positioned hip sockets... others just have poor core strength and/or squat form.
 
Speaking of squats. It’s been a while since I’ve done them, yesterday was my 2nd squat session in months. Haven’t consistently squatted in 4+ years. Trying to get my grove back while improving my mobility. Knees feeling OK at the moment.

Video (110kg).

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JGUPQ8qUQf5LHLjz5

Weight this morning is 78.3kg.

Currently I've been trying to bring some structure back to my training so lifts at the moment are:

Bench 95x5x5
Deadlift 120x5x3
OHP 55x5x5
Squat 110x5x3

Next week:

Bench 100x5x5
Deadlift 130x5x3
OHP 57.5x5x5
Squat 120x5x3
 
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I'm really enjoying front squatting at the minute, until I get the bar placement a little off and end up either choking myself mid rep or have it sitting right on a pressure point :eek:
 
Actually one thing I don't like is benching with a bar, do it with dumbbells for the 5x5 but starting to get hard to get them into position with my creaky wrists and no spotter/helper.
 
neoboy said:
Actually one thing I don't like is benching with a bar, do it with dumbbells for the 5x5 but starting to get hard to get them into position with my creaky wrists and no spotter/helper.
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Yea there is a certain technique but it does require strength in other areas to safely handle the bigger weights. Posterior chain and core to pick up the weights off the floor. Strong upper back and shoulders to be able to flip the weights into position and stabilise them.

I've never used a spotter for DBs, even the 50kg DBs.
 
neoboy said:
Actually one thing I don't like is benching with a bar, do it with dumbbells for the 5x5 but starting to get hard to get them into position with my creaky wrists and no spotter/helper.
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My problem is that our max dumbbells are 50kg. However, the point you make is exactly why I squat and deadlift because there comes a point that leg and back strength will limit your upper body gains - certainly with assistance of some form.

Stick with dumbbells, they are far better for your shoulders.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
My problem is that our max dumbbells are 50kg. However, the point you make is exactly why I squat and deadlift because there comes a point that leg and back strength will limit your upper body gains - certainly with assistance of some form.

Stick with dumbbells, they are far better for your shoulders.
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To be honest the DBs over 50kg get pretty silly in size. I've used the 65s in a another gym and they were pretty big. As a secondary movement I find 50kg is more than enough after a heavy bench press. I'm only on the 42s right now after bench press.
 
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