***The 2020 Gym Rats Thread*** ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ

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SideWinder said:
Just saying hi as a lurker....some of the numbers you guys lift are insane. :eek:

I am starting out so my bench PB last Saturday was 30kg (so 50kg with the bar) but it felt fantastic to have 'proper weight' on it. Got a push/pull/legs going for the past 3 weeks (5 days a week) and the diet/no alcohol is speeding me along...!

Squat - 45kg 2x5
Deadlift - 70kg 1x6
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It's all relative, just have to compare what you're lifting now with what you've lifted before and enjoy the journey. I frequently end up training next to mid-20's powerlifter whose best comp numbers (raw, tested) 260kg squat, 160kg bench and 315kg deadlift at around 100-105kg bw and it's mental watching him training and taking so many plates for a ride... but he in turn isn't even top 10 nationally in his weight class and internationally there's guys hitting bigger numbers - always a bigger fish!
 
Somnambulist said:
It's all relative, just have to compare what you're lifting now with what you've lifted before and enjoy the journey. I frequently end up training next to mid-20's powerlifter whose best comp numbers (raw, tested) 260kg squat, 160kg bench and 315kg deadlift at around 100-105kg bw and it's mental watching him training and taking so many plates for a ride... but he in turn isn't even top 10 nationally in his weight class and internationally there's guys hitting bigger numbers - always a bigger fish!
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This. The thing to keep in mind is that you are creating the best YOU. Doesn't matter if there is someone who is bigger/strong, they aren't you ;)

I was happy with my 145x3 bench press @82kg bodyweight today, even though the guys next to me were doing 180-200 singles on the bench press.
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Definitely not. But I'm guessing you've been doing this for some time.

I managed 3x5 of 75 kg a couple of days ago and left feeling like Hercules.
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Yea I've been training 16 years, not always at a decent level or even seriously, but recently I'm back into it. 6 years ago I was at my peak strength wise, but my physique is probably better currently at 34 years old.

The thing with weights are they are relative. You doing 75kg 3x5 would probably be build more muscle than me doing 140 3x5 :p
 
dirtychinchilla said:
Who the **** is pressing 145!
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Light :p

It’s the consistency that pays off and of course everyone’s goals are different. I’ve gone from pretty small in my gym to one of the strongest. Like others say, there’s always a bigger fish, but it’s the progression and challenge that I love. At this stage it’s also quite nice to have worked up to a point where people comment on your lifts, but there was a lot of me grinning it, bearing it and getting my head down in the beginning. It’s now my second home and I’ve learnt so much.

I excel log everything and I love looking back at previous numbers and seeing that my once max lifts are now second set warm ups :eek:

Advice here has been great.

I take weird satisfaction from things too e.g. overhead pressing more than most people in my gym can squat or bench. Interestingly OHP seems to be massively neglected by most in my gym.
 
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CaptainRAVE said:
Light :p

It’s the consistency that pays off and of course everyone’s goals are different. I’ve gone from pretty small in my gym to one of the strongest. Like others say, there’s always a bigger fish, but it’s the progression and challenge that I love. At this stage it’s also quite nice to have worked up to a point where people comment on your lifts, but there was a lot of me grinning it, bearing it and getting my head down in the beginning. It’s now my second home and I’ve learnt so much.

I excel log everything and I love looking back at previous numbers and seeing that my once max lifts are now second set warm ups :eek:
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Exactly. I did the powerlifting thing when I was mid 20s and eventually after some injuries I'm now training for aesthetics with some strength here and there. I don't even deadlift anymore.

It should be firstly about enjoyment and what I've come to realise in the past few years is longevity. All the guys my age I speak to talk about training with longevity in mind, so try to protect their joints/ligaments. After all, health and wellness should be at the core of training. I'd hate to be in my 40s with life long issues with my knees, shoulders, back etc etc. You hear about it all the time - can't be consistent if you can't train.
 
LiE said:
Exactly. I did the powerlifting thing when I was mid 20s and eventually after some injuries I'm now training for aesthetics with some strength here and there. I don't even deadlift anymore.

It should be firstly about enjoyment and what I've come to realise in the past few years is longevity. All the guys my age I speak to talk about training with longevity in mind, so try to protect their joints/ligaments. After all, health and wellness should be at the core of training. I'd hate to be in my 40s with life long issues with my knees, shoulders, back etc etc. You hear about it all the time - can't be consistent if you can't train.
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I swear every single person in my gym who I speak to has shoulder issues, has injured their back (one guy was in bed for 8 weeks after a deadlift gone wrong), knee, elbow at some point. Longevity is always in the back of my mind, pushing myself, but as safely as possible.

There was a guy in my gym squatting with terrible depth and form commenting on how he’s surprised I’m not squatting more. So I gave him a speech about form, longevity, sensible progression and that my max is indeed considerably more than his, but I don’t train at that weight every single day :p (in the nicest possible way of course - I ended up spotting for him and giving him some tips eventually...at his request).

The two biggest errors I see is ego and skipping the gym for weeks, thinking their strength is the same and then making up for it with form that makes me cringe. Oh, and only working chest - so many guys I only ever see on a chest day. Leg day has actually become one of my favourite days now.
 
^^^ Agree with this 100%.

I've only been strength training for just over a year and my numbers are still very small by comparison too many here, but the amount of guys I see at my gym who are lifting silly weight with horrendous form makes me cringe. This is a proper strength gym mind, not your average corporate. Form is something I OBSESS over constantly, probably far too much to be honest. But I'd rather get it right all the time then have it wrong once and have something snap or tweak.

In other news, it's kind of insane how much my flat bench has gone up after doing incline for so long. Had to go to my work gym which doesn't have a rack or decent plates on Tuesday and thought I'd do a bit of flat bench DB work. My previous PB with DBs was 15kg. Climbed to 22.5 easily on Tuesday with absolutely no issue whatsoever. Insane pump as well which I haven't felt in my chest for months.

Only problem is my hands. I have a long history of RA in my family and I'm fairly certain it's coming to me via the hands which isn't fun. Going to my GP about it in a few weeks so fingers crossed it isn't that but hey ho, if it is it is.
 
Have to echo what's been said above, it's your journey, no one elses. Enjoy it for you :)

Bench last night went well again, it's returning slowly but it's returning :D hit 8 reps at 92% of my post injury max so obviously there some gains there ^^ Probably still 20 to 30kg off where I used to be and 60kg off where I need to be :D

Ran out of time last night so in tonight again for pendlay rows and a bit of upper assistance before squats tomorrow :) really enjoying training at the minute.
 
Dropped my squats (again), bench and bent over rows after failing for a few sessions. I think for me squatting 100kg+ (dropped to 112.5kg) will never feel easy, every rep is still a struggle but I recover quicker at lighter a weight but my bench and bent over rows felt super easy at a lower weight which was nice.

Is there any point I should consider using a belt guys? I understand the benefit of it, I'm kind of doing okay without it but I'm thinking of using one. I seem to be the only person in the gym not using one for squats and deadlifts, haha.
 
ShortWarning said:
Dropped my squats (again), bench and bent over rows after failing for a few sessions. I think for me squatting 100kg+ (dropped to 112.5kg) will never feel easy, every rep is still a struggle but I recover quicker at lighter a weight but my bench and bent over rows felt super easy at a lower weight which was nice.

Is there any point I should consider using a belt guys? I understand the benefit of it, I'm kind of doing okay without it but I'm thinking of using one. I seem to be the only person in the gym not using one for squats and deadlifts, haha.
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There's an period of getting used to the belt you need to go through, it's not just 'chuck on and go' you need to learn to use it.

I started using a belt for squats, then when I injured my neck and had to stop squatting I haven't used one for squats since I built back up, and I'm past my old PB's and still feel more solid than ever.
I use a belt to deadlift though, I put it on when I'm on my last 1-2 warm up sets and my working sets, nothing below 100
 
GiraffePencils said:
There's an period of getting used to the belt you need to go through, it's not just 'chuck on and go' you need to learn to use it.

I started using a belt for squats, then when I injured my neck and had to stop squatting I haven't used one for squats since I built back up, and I'm past my old PB's and still feel more solid than ever.
I use a belt to deadlift though, I put it on when I'm on my last 1-2 warm up sets and my working sets, nothing below 100
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So true. I use it quite a lot now, but it took a long time to break in and get used to. In all honesty it was a hindrance in the beginning.
 
Is there a long term benefit to me learning to use a belt would you say then?

Also what size would you recommend (thickness wise)? 5'9" with usual proportions (I think). :p
 
ShortWarning said:
Is there a long term benefit to me learning to use a belt would you say then?

Also what size would you recommend (thickness wise)? 5'9" with usual proportions (I think). :p
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Depends on what you use it for, So I'd always get a 10mm belt
But I have a squat belt and a deadlifting belt. because there's more space for deadlifts.

Long term, eventually you'll get heavy and you'll need a belt to brace your core against.
 
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