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V useful - thanks and to everyone else who replied!
Surprised to hear its a mirror if i am honest!
***The 2020 Gym Rats Thread*** ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ
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V useful - thanks and to everyone else who replied!
Surprised to hear its a mirror if i am honest!
V useful - thanks and to everyone else who replied!
Surprised to hear its a mirror if i am honest!
Well, if you can see abs/vasc, does it matter what number that is?
Soldato
Enjoying being back so far, even enjoying the Prowler.. I did do some complexes this morning, which then just ended up in to clean and strict press and managed to do a few singles on 70kg.. I guess my shoulder strength is slowly creeping back haha
Soldato
I was having a good run with my back. No Major issues since about April last year.
Last night set 3 of my squats, I didn't feel anything "go" but I locked out after my 2nd rep and my lower back really hurt in the same old place. In my younger day's I'd have pushed through it but I stopped squatting immediately. Moved onto bench, it hurt too much to get the back arch for leg drive so I went home. Today I can barely walk and there is no relief from the pain whatsoever. Laying hurts, standing hurts, sitting hurts, walking hurts, haha.
I should have moved away from 5x5 heavy squats a month back really I felt like was pushing too hard and I think it's come to a head.
It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I can get back in the gym and God knows how many months before I can squat or deadlift. I'm really heart broken about it because I've been making some really good progress.
Last night set 3 of my squats, I didn't feel anything "go" but I locked out after my 2nd rep and my lower back really hurt in the same old place. In my younger day's I'd have pushed through it but I stopped squatting immediately. Moved onto bench, it hurt too much to get the back arch for leg drive so I went home. Today I can barely walk and there is no relief from the pain whatsoever. Laying hurts, standing hurts, sitting hurts, walking hurts, haha.
I should have moved away from 5x5 heavy squats a month back really I felt like was pushing too hard and I think it's come to a head.
It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I can get back in the gym and God knows how many months before I can squat or deadlift. I'm really heart broken about it because I've been making some really good progress.
Soldato
I'd have suggested you roll/stretch rather than giving up and going home.
Soldato
whatever you think you are add at least 5 to it. Also dont see the point in weekly progress, body isnt going to change that much in 7 days.
Everyone thinks there 10% but there more like 20%. 10% is insanely hard to reach and even harder to keep.
Man of Honour
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I was having a good run with my back. No Major issues since about April last year.
Last night set 3 of my squats, I didn't feel anything "go" but I locked out after my 2nd rep and my lower back really hurt in the same old place. In my younger day's I'd have pushed through it but I stopped squatting immediately. Moved onto bench, it hurt too much to get the back arch for leg drive so I went home. Today I can barely walk and there is no relief from the pain whatsoever. Laying hurts, standing hurts, sitting hurts, walking hurts, haha.
I should have moved away from 5x5 heavy squats a month back really I felt like was pushing too hard and I think it's come to a head.
It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I can get back in the gym and God knows how many months before I can squat or deadlift. I'm really heart broken about it because I've been making some really good progress.
Time for some decent physio and scans I would say.
Soldato
I've got a physio appointment tomorrow. Physios, in my experience, don't really diagnose anything though. I had an MRI on my back last year (when it wasn't causing me that much pain) and they didn't find anything. I really struggle to believe there's nothing at all wrong with my back that would not show up on a scan even if it's minor but they didn't find anything.
I'm probably being a little over the top but assuming I'm going to be sedentary for 2 weeks, should I adjust my calories?
V useful - thanks and to everyone else who replied!
Surprised to hear its a mirror if i am honest!
What you find is that once you've dieted a couple of times you get to know your own personal visual landmarks (independent of weight, so hopefully each bulk/cut cycle you see the same landmarks at a slightly higher bw)... so for me I know if I can see my mini love handles disappear things are progressing, if a certain vein appears running up one side of my stomach and some little tree-like ones creep up from my belt line I know I'm pretty much done. I've pushed it more and gotten pretty much a 3D road map on my stomach which is when I start making people feel sick and let me know I'd probably gone a bit too far for a casual gym bro.
You can if you wanted to limit a minor amount of weight gain, although by how much depends on how much general activity you were doing beforehand, excluding programmed exercise (although lifting doesn't burn that much anyway) - these are rough estimates more to give you an idea than be a guide:
Soldato
Is that image dead or is it just me? Seems like its been hyperlinked!
I'm about to have 2-3 sedentary weeks also. Looking at maintaining the high protein with about 1750 calories a day because I've put on a few fat kgs recently.
I'm about to have 2-3 sedentary weeks also. Looking at maintaining the high protein with about 1750 calories a day because I've put on a few fat kgs recently.
image working for me
I'm getting knee pain again after squatting. I'm mid 40s and have given my knees a pretty hard life of running, snowboarding and so on. I am doing madcow which is as squatty as stronglifts. I want to change things up particularly as it is snowboard season and I don't want to take knee problems to the mountains.
Any programmes or susbsitutions that people would suggest? Deadlifting and rows seem fine for my knees. Tempted to really work on OHP and do more of that than the once a week I currently end up doing.
Happy to do lighter squats just to keep up with movement but it seems to cause me grief on (for me) heavy sets 130-140+
Switch programme or just substitute?
I'm getting knee pain again after squatting. I'm mid 40s and have given my knees a pretty hard life of running, snowboarding and so on. I am doing madcow which is as squatty as stronglifts. I want to change things up particularly as it is snowboard season and I don't want to take knee problems to the mountains.
Any programmes or susbsitutions that people would suggest? Deadlifting and rows seem fine for my knees. Tempted to really work on OHP and do more of that than the once a week I currently end up doing.
Happy to do lighter squats just to keep up with movement but it seems to cause me grief on (for me) heavy sets 130-140+
Switch programme or just substitute?
Man of Honour
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If your knees aren’t caving in, are in line with your foot and not excessively travelling forward then it could just be overuse. I’ve had the same. Perhaps just give them a rest.
Considering switching back to an upper/lower program from next week. Seeing some really nice number increases with the bro split but the areas I most need work (chest, shoulders, quads) just aren't seeing enough improvement. Might throw one together myself as I never work abs and a lot of the plans include ab work 2/3 times a week... could swap it for shoulder accessory work.
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Definitely not caving and I think fine on forward travel. It feels like I just need to give em a rest. The pain is just above the knee and seems to get exacerbated by sitting at a desk with legs bent. Seems like an opportunity to push through OHP plateau.
Knee pain is a weird one because a lot of the problems aren't actually associated with the knee itself.
How much unilateral leg work do you do? Have you tried band-resisted work to get glute med going? How flexible are your hip flexor, too?
Generally, go and see a physio, but there are a few bits you can do at home which may help...
Soldato
My back is feeling a lot better today, just from rest and also after seeing the physio. I think for a few months I'm going to try some hypertrophy based lifting, I think it will be kinder on my back.
Is there any 3 day routines recommended?
Preferably something I can do without squats/deadlifts but able to substitute them in within a month. I'm sure I could do light squats/deads next week but it's too tempting to start piling on weight when I'm in the rack.
I quite like the idea of an a/b day to ensure I'm hitting each group enough.
Is there any 3 day routines recommended?
Preferably something I can do without squats/deadlifts but able to substitute them in within a month. I'm sure I could do light squats/deads next week but it's too tempting to start piling on weight when I'm in the rack.
I quite like the idea of an a/b day to ensure I'm hitting each group enough.
My back is feeling a lot better today, just from rest and also after seeing the physio. I think for a few months I'm going to try some hypertrophy based lifting, I think it will be kinder on my back.
Is there any 3 day routines recommended?
Preferably something I can do without squats/deadlifts but able to substitute them in within a month. I'm sure I could do light squats/deads next week but it's too tempting to start piling on weight when I'm in the rack.
I quite like the idea of an a/b day to ensure I'm hitting each group enough.
Do whatever routine you want, but swap the squats out for deficit Bulgarian split squats, and deadlifts out for single leg RDLs...
There is no substitute for deadlifts proper, but there we go...
Soldato
What's a good routine though? There are so many on the internet, I don't really know where to start.
My back is feeling a lot better today, just from rest and also after seeing the physio. I think for a few months I'm going to try some hypertrophy based lifting, I think it will be kinder on my back.
Is there any 3 day routines recommended?
Preferably something I can do without squats/deadlifts but able to substitute them in within a month. I'm sure I could do light squats/deads next week but it's too tempting to start piling on weight when I'm in the rack.
I quite like the idea of an a/b day to ensure I'm hitting each group enough.
3 day... HST? Quite long workouts but that's the price you pay to get sufficient volume in with lower frequency.
Also a reminder you don't HAVE to do barbell squats, and (deadlifts suck for hypertrophy-focused training). Ultimately all that matters is you're placing sufficient tension demands on a muscle, so if that's by a good leg press or hack squat that allows for decent ROM and takes your low back out of the equation then great. If you want a big squat then you have to squat, but many a pair of legs was grown without a barbell being rested on the back.
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