*** The 2019 Gym Rats Thread ***

Avenged7Fold said:
Give it a go. I would recommend mixing up your starting compound exercises, as you might find things like overhead press very difficult after benching flat and incline or vice versa.


I've been going on and off for a couple of years not making any progress until start of last year where i decided to really try and so counted every calorie, made sure i hit macros, never missed a day and i just really enjoyed it. I still drink weekly but everything is worlds better and changes to my physique was more of a bonus since i actually came to love training.
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That's exactly what happened. Even with a seated overhead press with very little weight my arms where just all over the place. Didn't even bother going past the first set. Will give it another try over the weekend with an empty bar, try and get my form down. After I've nailed that I'll have to try and get the deadlift down...
 
DrToffnar said:
Twas some kind of fresh hell in my gym last night. New faces everywhere with not a free bench to be seen... As cool as it is to see people making an effort, I really hope it calms down over the next few weeks.

With regards to routine, how do you guys break yours up? At the moment I'm there 6 times a week pairing muscle groups off (back & biceps, chest & triceps, legs & shoulders with each routine repeated twice a week). Do you guys find it more beneficial doing only one specific muscle group for one session?
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Sunday - legs (mainly squats)
Monday - chest
Tuesday - lower back (mainly deads)
Wed - upper back
Fri - shoulders
Sat - arms

The gym should settle down soon enough. Crazy at mine too.
 
DrToffnar said:
Do you find there's any real benefits to spacing things like this?
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Most wouldn't advocate training every day. Deadlifts and Squats can be tough on back to back days so it's a good idea to spread those. Same with shoulders and chest.

Mon: Chest/Triceps/Core
Tuesday: Back/Biceps
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Shoulders/Core
Friday: Legs
Weekend: Rest

On rest days do some mobility.
 
DrToffnar said:
Do you find there's any real benefits to spacing things like this?
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I only manage this number of days due to a hugely elevated calorie intake. Starting off in the gym I probably managed 4 days. That just doesn’t hit my muscle groups hard enough anymore. Squats and dead’s need good spacing, at least for me. I can finally fit heavy rows in between those days, I never used to be able to.

I used to group biceps with back, triceps with chest, legs in their own, in sessions together. Lots of different ways to do it though.

Just do what feels right tbh. If my body says no, I won’t push it. Touch wood I have not been injured for sometime and finally am completely shoulder pain free - this is taken some effort!
 
DrToffnar said:
With regards to routine, how do you guys break yours up? At the moment I'm there 6 times a week pairing muscle groups off (back & biceps, chest & triceps, legs & shoulders with each routine repeated twice a week). Do you guys find it more beneficial doing only one specific muscle group for one session?
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I dont see the point. Unless your actually bodybuilding competitively and roided out 24/7 your body is surely going to have recovery issues.
 
Speaking of recovery issues, just over the holidays there I was resting my shoulder and had a bit of a cold so stayed fully rested.
Back to work my usual cycle commute I felt so powerful haha
I have to say I'd not noticed it, but I must have had some accumulated tiredness etc which is probably from not enough rest days/food/both
 
mrthingyx said:
Interesting. You brace/pin your shoulders/upper back but completely forget about your lumbar region.

1) Learn to hip hinge.
2) Imagine pointing your bum at the ceiling and using your abz to pin them there.
3) Push your hips forward as you lift, because you're forcing all that lovely weight onto your lumbar.

You slacken off your bracing as the reps progress, but the upper bit is there - keey going!
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Thanks for the advice. I am really struggling with the whole bracing lumbar region. Watched a video, or a few, that say about tightening your glutes and taking a gut full of air. This is fine until I get down to the position and then I can't seem to keep my glutes under tension.

Your right about the hip hinge. Have watched a video a few moments ago that the guy explains really well how to do it properly and getting your backside to touch the wall with your hands on hips so gonna practice that at home for the next few days.

Deadlift again on Saturday morning so will film it again and post it to see if you guys think there is any improvement.

Thanks.
 
davejh666 said:
Thanks for the advice. I am really struggling with the whole bracing lumbar region. Watched a video, or a few, that say about tightening your glutes and taking a gut full of air. This is fine until I get down to the position and then I can't seem to keep my glutes under tension.

Your right about the hip hinge. Have watched a video a few moments ago that the guy explains really well how to do it properly and getting your backside to touch the wall with your hands on hips so gonna practice that at home for the next few days.

Deadlift again on Saturday morning so will film it again and post it to see if you guys think there is any improvement.

Thanks.
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Just keep at it. It took me a good 6 months to get comfortable with deads and squats when I started. Years on and I am still learning and perfecting.
 
W
CaptainRAVE said:
Just keep at it. It took me a good 6 months to get comfortable with deads and squats when I started. Years on and I am still learning and perfecting.
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What I have realised is that there is an awful lot to remember to do when you are deadlifting!

Been watching a couple more videos tonight on core bracing and the best explanation I got was 'just imagine being on the toilet and pushing one out' lol, made me laugh. Apparently, farting is quite common with squats and deadlifts? Think I will stay away from the squat racks when it's not leg day.
 
Came close a few times but haven't had that incident yet :D

Imagine with heavier weights there's more chance of it happening heh. I was completely lazy today so just did my deadlifts with a trap bar. On a bright side, zero issues with grip and did a full 5x5.

Feeling a lot more confident on a squat now but need to concentrate on deadlifts more. Garbage grip and still feel like my breathing is all over the place and need to engage that core better.
 
DrToffnar said:
Twas some kind of fresh hell in my gym last night. New faces everywhere with not a free bench to be seen... As cool as it is to see people making an effort, I really hope it calms down over the next few weeks.

With regards to routine, how do you guys break yours up? At the moment I'm there 6 times a week pairing muscle groups off (back & biceps, chest & triceps, legs & shoulders with each routine repeated twice a week). Do you guys find it more beneficial doing only one specific muscle group for one session?
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Mine's a bit odd but I work a 4 week continental shift pattern so have to make do.

If my work shifts are either days/nights at the end of the week I can do the ideal set-up:
Lower, upper, rest, lower, push (work gym), pull (work gym), rest.

If I'm working nights at the start of the week it's:
Lower, push (work gym), pull (work gym), lower, push, pull, rest

If I'm working days at the start of the week it's:
Lower push (wg), lower pull (wg), upper push (wg), upper pull (wg), lower, push, pull - this seems like a lot but the first 4 days are pretty short as it's on my lunch break so 35-40mins.

First lower/upper is more strength focused, sets of 4-6 for squats, RDLs, bench, seal rows etc with a little bit of moderate rep work on accessories. The lower/push/pull more abbout getting the volume in, so things like sets of 6-8 for OHP, low incline bench, weighted chins, cable rows etc and higher rep isolation stuff.
 
davejh666 said:
Thanks for the advice. I am really struggling with the whole bracing lumbar region. Watched a video, or a few, that say about tightening your glutes and taking a gut full of air. This is fine until I get down to the position and then I can't seem to keep my glutes under tension.

Your right about the hip hinge. Have watched a video a few moments ago that the guy explains really well how to do it properly and getting your backside to touch the wall with your hands on hips so gonna practice that at home for the next few days.

Deadlift again on Saturday morning so will film it again and post it to see if you guys think there is any improvement.

Thanks.
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Regarding bracing...

Syla5 said:
To go with the above, watch this and make gains

https://youtu.be/VcY3YSW9vX4
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Regarding hip hinge, RDL's are really great for learning how to hinge properly and engage the glutes. Really allows you to focus on creating a mind muscle link with your glutes and learning how to really hump the bar without having to worry about also getting in to the deadlift starting position at the same time.

Once the hip hinge is learned its a lot harder to not do it.
 
Had a serious think last night after all your wonderful advise and some reading up and decided I need to refocus.

I still have a fair bit of body fat I'd like to loose. Not too much (5'11 and 86KG), I've already lost 10KG since September, but I think my focus has swung to 'bulking' a little too early. Even living inside a small calorie surplus and continuing to weight train as often as I am, it's going to take an age too loose the fat I'd like to see gone (want to hit ATLEAST 80kg).

Whilst I'm not going to totally give up the S&R training, I'm certainly going to be doing more cardio and put myself into the same surplus I was at when I initially decided to loose some weight. Hope to at least maintain the muscle mass I've gained since October.

Going to be difficult. Come to really enjoy the amount of weight training I've been doing. But there's no point me starting off on the wrong foot. I'd rather get to my target weight and then build lean muscle from there rather then constantly fight with nutrition over the next 2-3 years to get the fat off whilst trying to build muscle.
 
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