*** The 2019 Gym Rats Thread ***

[neoboy]

Thanks I will give it a read. no protein shakes currently only intraworkout, Every protein shake I have tried thus far has been god awful and caused me to almost hurl :|

It's not impossible but harder to get 150g+ of protein on a vegetarian diet without the supplements. If you're lacto-ovo vegetarian then eggs and dairy will be your friends, have a look around YouTube as there's quite a few of those, "what I eat in a day" videos from 'vegetarians bodybuilders'.

You can check out Clarence Kennedy as well, he's an Irish powerlifter who has switched to vegan diet, doesn't seem to affect his lifts and has a good video on what he eats in a day.

 

[Syla5]

Thanks I will give it a read. no protein shakes currently only intraworkout, Every protein shake I have tried thus far has been god awful and caused me to almost hurl :|

What ones have you tried?

What makes them god awful?

 

[Avenged7Fold]

TBH i can't stomach shakes the way most have them (with cold water and usually still a bit lumpy). They have been fine with milk in a blender with other stuff. Flavours are always way too sweet for me but have switched to flavourless after a recent accidental buy and wow is that much better.

I routinely have a scoop mixed with black coffee (cooled down a tad so it doesn't curdle). Then i add either a bit of flavouring or a bit of sweetener and it tastes malty, a bit like Horlicks - seems to dissolve completely with a bit of stirring in a hot drink.

Unflavoured has been the best with Mocha a close second. The rest have been way, way too sickly. Have no idea how people can have flavours like watermelon and enjoy them

 

[nicktay2605]

Bulk Powders pure whey protein is the best one I've tried. It's okay with water and basically just tastes like a flavoured milkshake when mixed with milk. Prior to that I'd tried Myprotein, Protein Works, Optimum Nutrition and none of them were that nice.

 

[davejh666]

I use weigh isolate in chocolate from myprotein and find it mixes really well with water. Doesn't taste over chocolatey but doesn't make you reach either.

Myprotein's pre workout in cola flavour will have you reaching though. Just about finished the tub I got at Christmas and won't be buying anymore of it!

 

[neoboy]

I just been buying MyProtein unflavoured cheapest whey for years, 5 seconds in a blender with cold water and down it, flavour not a problem

Saying that, got banana flavour really cheap and it's actually nice and that's coming from someone who hates most flavours. Also not the same but have some Huel and coffee flavour is pretty decent, quite "oaty". Sometimes just use plain cocoa powder with unflavoured whey and also works nice with the banana one. If I'm really adventurous then tablespoon of peanut butter in there as well.

 

[strumpusplunket]

I had this recently, exactly as you describe, after building my home gym and getting into regular training (doing the Fierce 5 program but with box squats instead of front squats), primarily in my elbows, shoulders, and knees. My solution was to drop the weight hugely (to 60% of what I was lifting) and build back up to the weight I was doing when the joints/tendons started hurting over a 3 week period.

My guess is that the ligaments and joints take longer to strengthen/acclimatise than the muscle growth early on, which if true means that taking it easier or having longer breaks is the only solution. I'm not a doctor though, that's just what makes sense to me and what worked for me. I haven't had anymore tendon pain for 2 months now despite the weight regularly increasing.

Cheers.

It's good to know someone else is having this issue, so it's less likely to be something specific I'm doing wrong. Also good to hear your approach to this problem worked for you.

I think trying your method of dropping the weight for a bit might be a good one. I've had five days off now and I really don't like taking time away from the weights when I'm in my working out phases. I feel weak, unfit and flabby already. I know in reality my body and strength won't have changed in any significant way in five days, but forcing myself to take a lay-off always feels difficult. Lightening the weight will also be counter to my instincts, but it will feel preferable to a continued lay-off. I'll try being cautious, though. I guess the body needs treating a bit more gently as I get older...

 

[Kreeeee]

Cheers.

It's good to know someone else is having this issue, so it's less likely to be something specific I'm doing wrong. Also good to hear your approach to this problem worked for you.

I think trying your method of dropping the weight for a bit might be a good one. I've had five days off now and I really don't like taking time away from the weights when I'm in my working out phases. I feel weak, unfit and flabby already. I know in reality my body and strength won't have changed in any significant way in five days, but forcing myself to take a lay-off always feels difficult. Lightening the weight will also be counter to my instincts, but it will feel preferable to a continued lay-off. I'll try being cautious, though. I guess the body needs treating a bit more gently as I get older...

I really didn't want to lose my routine, as I find once I'm out of it I find it very hard to get back into it. I also think that still doing the motions, even with an almost laughably easy weight, helps to improve the joints, ligaments and form while a big gap just makes me rusty when I do return to lifting.

I tried dropping to 80% but that didn't really help and I needed that big drop to 60% to relieve the pain I was feeling. Particularly in the elbows.

I feel like a fat waste of space if I don't train for a few days so I know how you feel, and lightening the load while really focusing on form and the slow eccentric parts of the lifts kept me feeling "tight" and in a good mood.

 

[kaptainmarc]

What ones have you tried?

What makes them god awful?

I dont like regular milkshakes so im at a disadvantage. Maybe I have just tried the wrong flavours etc

TBH i can't stomach shakes the way most have them (with cold water and usually still a bit lumpy). They have been fine with milk in a blender with other stuff. Flavours are always way too sweet for me but have switched to flavourless after a recent accidental buy and wow is that much better.

I routinely have a scoop mixed with black coffee (cooled down a tad so it doesn't curdle). Then i add either a bit of flavouring or a bit of sweetener and it tastes malty, a bit like Horlicks - seems to dissolve completely with a bit of stirring in a hot drink.

Unflavoured has been the best with Mocha a close second. The rest have been way, way too sickly. Have no idea how people can have flavours like watermelon and enjoy them

Watermelon one sounds good, I like citrus/sharp flavours so what a lot of people consider vile I normally end up liking, I will have a search for the water melon

It's not impossible but harder to get 150g+ of protein on a vegetarian diet without the supplements. If you're lacto-ovo vegetarian then eggs and dairy will be your friends, have a look around YouTube as there's quite a few of those, "what I eat in a day" videos from 'vegetarians bodybuilders'.

You can check out Clarence Kennedy as well, he's an Irish powerlifter who has switched to vegan diet, doesn't seem to affect his lifts and has a good video on what he eats in a day.

I think I can hit it fairly easily with abit more meal prep. Currently hitting around 110-120g daily so an extra 40g shouldn't be too hard, going to order a variety of small protein pouches to try.

thanks for the suggestion I will check him out, I eat a lot of vegan food due to the mrs being vegan but its quite easy with the amount of soya based products on the market now.

 

[neoboy]

Yeah once you start adding soy products it gets even easier, I only recently tried soy milk and actually quite like it with good macros to boot. Also if like me you're carrying quite a bit of extra timber, you probably want to calculate the protein intake for your approximate lean body mass, rather than whole weight.

 

[Tom|Nbk]

I just been buying MyProtein unflavoured cheapest whey for years, 5 seconds in a blender with cold water and down it, flavour not a problem

Saying that, got banana flavour really cheap and it's actually nice and that's coming from someone who hates most flavours. Also not the same but have some Huel and coffee flavour is pretty decent, quite "oaty". Sometimes just use plain cocoa powder with unflavoured whey and also works nice with the banana one. If I'm really adventurous then tablespoon of peanut butter in there as well.

Unflavoured is fantastic that was my go to for years from MP.

My Mrs ordered 5kg this time so we have got the strawberry cream

 

[ShortWarning]

Right, I'm posting this so I can manage my expectations. Essentially I want to get rid of the overhang/bloat I have, I'm not worried about being ripped. Would you say it's doable in 6-8 weeks without killing myself? If it's not I probably won't bother and will just keep doing what I'm doing. This is about 74kg @ 5'9" (taken before going to the gym).

Spoiler

In other news, I got back to deadlifts for the first time in a month due to injury and even though I wasn't planning to, I ended up lifting heavier than I have before (I watched the load order vid someone posted a few pages back and it really helped)!

 

[tom_e]

Possibly but you'll have to absolutely hammer it for those 8 weeks, there's also the fact that you're relatively lean so that's going to be your stubborn fat which always takes time to shift. You may not eliminate it totally in that period but you could definitely make a very noticeable change.

 

[Syla5]

(I watched the load order vid someone posted a few pages back and it really helped)!

YW

 

[CaptainRAVE]

My right elbow is so swollen. Didn’t bench last week. Also missed 4 days due to work. Felt like I had never been when I returned last night! Geez.

 

[neoboy]

I had one session last week and one this Monday and today, body definitely feeling not keeping up with three times a week schedule for two weeks now. Really do lose it if you don't use it.

Also somewhat off topic, but where to you beautiful beefcakes buy your t-shirts from? I find most XL shirts fit nice on the top half but too short on the bottom, when I go to XXL then most seem to have way too much fabric round the waist and that's even with me carrying a generous tyre in that area.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I had one session last week and one this Monday and today, body definitely feeling not keeping up with three times a week schedule for two weeks now. Really do lose it if you don't use it.

Also somewhat off topic, but where to you beautiful beefcakes buy your t-shirts from? I find most XL shirts fit nice on the top half but too short on the bottom, when I go to XXL then most seem to have way too much fabric round the waist and that's even with me carrying a generous tyre in that area.

Nike T shirts here, but usually a bit too long for me in larger sizes.

 

[reiyushin]

@reiyushin we need a 2019 thread (how are your lifts going? You seemed to be doing well last time you posted some videos)

Hey man, lifts are going good (except bench but it'll be back at some stage...) so far this year I've hit the 300kg squat and 320 deadlift I've been chasing for a while

I'm not really having enough time to keep anything up to date this weather so I think it would be best if someone else wanted to take over the powerlifting totals!

Some vids in case anyone wants to see:
300kg Squat - https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs0RW1BgsQL/
320kg deadlift - https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs89jKWg6Zu/

 

[Syla5]

Saw your lifts on insta, very solid. Hope you can get sorted for your bench in time for comp.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Hey man, lifts are going good (except bench but it'll be back at some stage...) so far this year I've hit the 300kg squat and 320 deadlift I've been chasing for a while

I'm not really having enough time to keep anything up to date this weather so I think it would be best if someone else wanted to take over the powerlifting totals!

Some vids in case anyone wants to see:
300kg Squat - https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs0RW1BgsQL/
320kg deadlift - https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs89jKWg6Zu/

Crazy lifts. Congrats!