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

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Somnambulist said:
I'd argue you're more likely to lose lean mass aggressively dieting without a sufficient training stimulus than you are just trying to maintain your current weight, although it depends on where your physique is at currently. Also one of the effects of being in a prolonged hypocaloric state is a compromised/weakened immune system, which obviously isn't a good thing currently, although I suppose it depends on your level of isolation.

Additionally, I think there's an element of hyperbole when it comes to gym rats thinking just because they don't have access to a gym their muscles are going to fall off. Yes you'll lose some specific strength if you've spent a long time becoming hyper-efficient at certain big lifts, but ultimately something like your tricep doesn't know the difference between barbell bench and doing dips between two chairs - it only knows tension demands are being placed upon it. Let's take pull-ups - how many people here can do 20 reps (for multiple sets) strict - as in no swinging/heaving - and with a full range of motion from the hang all the way to touching the sternum to the bar? Sprinkle in some inverted rows or resistance band rows and something you can curl or reverse fly and that'll keep your back busy for a good while...
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I'm about 25% body fat, maybe a little lower, so need to cut about 25lbs. I've been cutting slow since January, about 1lb per week and gaining strength but now I can't do that. I know cutting more aggressively will lead to more muscle loss but I'm talking 2lbs per week (sorry should have elaborated) instead of the slow approach I've been taking.

Funnily enough I'm concentrating on getting to 20 reps for pull ups over this period. I'm on sets of 8, with the weight loss this should easily be attainable with progression to weighted pull ups.
 
At that bf% you have decent energy availability so if that’s what you wanna do it’s not as bad as someone relatively lean trying to get a bit dicier.

Also someone mentioned the Pull-Up Mate - it’s decent, and can handle surprisingly heavy loads for something packable.

Finally, natural leg extensions are as hard as Nordic curls and my quads are toasty. Also pistol squats going ATG against a wall to a simulate a hack squat are nasty too. So far the hardest movement pattern to make difficult is hip extension...
 
Somnambulist said:
At that bf% you have decent energy availability so if that’s what you wanna do it’s not as bad as someone relatively lean trying to get a bit dicier.

Also someone mentioned the Pull-Up Mate - it’s decent, and can handle surprisingly heavy loads for something packable.

Finally, natural leg extensions are as hard as Nordic curls and my quads are toasty. Also pistol squats going ATG against a wall to a simulate a hack squat are nasty too. So far the hardest movement pattern to make difficult is hip extension...
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Single leg, under a sofa.

Also, with less weight it is now time to focus on ultra slow negatives.
 
Jimbo Mahoney said:
Although sadly, the stronger you are relative to your max potential, the faster you'll lose it.

I'm ~58kg and my PBs are:

Squat = 144 kg
Bench = 105 kg
Deadlift = 180 kg

When I took three weeks off for my honeymoon, I lost about 30% of my 1rm.

But, yes, it does return quickly and is "kinda" fun making "fake" progress again!

:D
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These are some excellent numbers for that body weight!

I've accepted that I am going to lose some strength and size over the next few months so I'm going to see what I can do with some bodyweight/banded exercises, got a reasonable Push/Pull/Legs routine on the go.

Weighed myself today and I am under 100kg (98kg) for the first time in approx 3 years, was 110kg around October last year which is around the time when I hit each of my PB's.
 
I've ordered a pull up bar. That's about all I can find on the net at the moment.

Lost some more weight, down to under 68kg. Clearly not eating enough. I'm going to be a weakling by the end of this. :p
 
Hi gym bros, how are we fairing during these troubled times?

On dropping off supplies at the rents, I picked up my old weights I bought but never used as a teenager.

Bar and dumbbells and weights to go up to 75kg. (No more than 20kg on the dumbells)

My housemate is helping me out with construction of some sort of gym rack for pullups, dips and to take the bar for squats and bench press and to hang my new gymnast rings on.

Ill feel a lot better about this lockdown once i can focus on my training even if its light. Pause reps and stability exercises have been my friend so far.
 
This lockdown got me to pull my finger out and setup a weights room.
I've a rack, bench some mats and ~140kg

I should be good, room feels so enclosed though.
Considering a 6ft bar or something
 
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Made out of unistrut today and solid af.

No materials leftover and thank god because suppliers we looked at are not delivering. Couple of gymnast rings too!

Going to add a few bits over the next few weeks but so far it's been great!

I just wish I had some full size plates for it.
 
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I wish I had space for a rack and bar - I miss the feeling of a heavy weight on my back. Upper body training has been going ok but my legs are really messing dem wheelz on the bar.
 
Avenged7Fold said:
20200403-180736.jpg


Made out of unistrut today and solid af.

No materials leftover and thank god because suppliers we looked at are not delivering. Couple of gymnast rings too!

Going to add a few bits over the next few weeks but so far it's been great!

I just wish I had some full size 20kg plates for it for a bit more weight and to deadlift without using platforms
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That is very cool... probably more solid than most commercial kit! Nice work!
 
MG42Maniac said:
What do people think of these pushup boards? https://muscleboard.co.uk/

My normal gym routine is built around compound lifts which I can't do at the moment. Just looking for something to keep me ticking over for the next few months.
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If you want push-up handles, just get some wooden mini parallettes off eBay for £15-20. More solid than the plastic-y ones on Amazon and not priced stupidly. I like them for adding some ROM to push-ups with the feet slightly elevated too, and using them to create room to get your head through more on handstand pushup variations.
 
No room for anything so just been exploring what to do with my 16kg kettlebell, you can certainly tire yourself out with some programmes. Even got myself some of Pavel Tsatsouline's books to read through.
 
Is anyone else finding motivation and consistency more of an issue trying to workout at home? Up until the lockdown I'd been really consistent with my gym attendance and was making some good progress, and once I remembered I had a weights bench and dumbbells stored away in the garage I thought I shouldn't really have too many issues without the gym, but for some reason I'm finding it harder to stick to a routine even though it's only a ten second walk down the garden.
 
I did at first but am finding motivation again.

My issue was attacking exercise with the mentality that whatever I would be doing can only be half arsed due to lack of equipment.

In the end I got my motivation back by changing everything: nutrition, goal, exercise strategy etc. I'm back to cutting now, I've switched to higher reps, paused reps, new exercises and have thrown in a bit of low intensity cardio first thing in the morning to increase the calorie gap. After all that, it feels that I'm working towards my new goal at full speed. Which is good because I'm an all or nothing person.
 
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