Yes don't do what the 16 year old I sometimes train next to does and forget to breathe - he might have a bunch of junior records in the country etc but it gives me something to laugh about when he's always doing this. 
***The 2020 Gym Rats Thread*** ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ
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Just saying hi as a lurker....some of the numbers you guys lift are insane.
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
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!
I view a belt in the same way as any equipment; they're just tools to assist the athlete in specific circumstances and because I'm bored at work on nights...
~ WL'ing shoes: the raised heel essentially gives you more dorsiflexion than you'd have available normally, enabling a more upright position at the bottom of a deep squat. More forward knee travel on any squat pattern type movement places more demand on the quads. If the goal of a squat, leg press etc is to build the front of the legs and use full ROM, then WL'ing shoes > flat shoes
~ straps: for something like RDLs, my grip will give out before my posterior chain, and my goal is to develop the latter, so it'd be illogical to not use straps for this movement. Additionally for some back movements, by using straps which reduce the need for a death-grip, it allows the athlete to execute the 'pull with the elbows' cue better and feel a greater contraction in the lats etc.
~ wrist wraps: for pressing, keeping the bar stacked with the wrists/elbows allows for greater transfer of force, and wraps help with preventing the wrists from going into too much extension on a heavy bench press, for example. Wrist and forearm strength can be developed, but joint sizes differ between people, it's not something you can do anything about, and for those blessed with skinny wrists wraps can be a godsend. Also for low bar squats, wraps help many lifters with taking some strain off the wrists (I rarely see anyone serious about powerlifting not using them actually).
~ belts: used properly a belt augments core tightness which helps with any sort of lift with axial (spinal) loading. While there's certainly an element of 'learn to squat first, then worry about belts and stuff', for most people once consistent tekkers has been developed and squats start getting challenging, it's more likely reps will be missed because of something other than pure leg strength, so if you have a tool that offsets that a bit and allows you to get more quality work out of your legs...
~ liquid chalk: duh
Also regarding hypertrophy training... this video came up today and as usual Dr. Eric Helms (who coaches a world champion powerlifter in Bryce Lewis, who himself is an excellent coach with The Strength Athlete) and brings up an important point about why training purely for size is less complicated than for say, maximum 1RM strength in a powerlifting meet:
Fat can be lost a lot faster than muscle can be gained, and the reality is the higher your bf is, the longer you’ll have to end up dieting to get to a level most people would be happy with. If I was 23% I’d just cut calories to get myself down to 12% or so and look to maintain my lifts. Yes this might take 12-16 weeks (with a 1.5-2 week diet break in the middle), but then once you’re done and get back to gaining you’re then done for another 12 months or so as long as you eat slightly above maintenance vs everything in sight and piling weight back on. You don’t need to add cardio in to cut, just cut calories sufficiently (which then gives you the option if you have a serious still to add that in rather than cutting calories further) and aim to be seeing 0.5-1% total bodyweight lost a week.
You won’t gain absolute strength as quickly (if at all towards the end of the diet) but your relative strength will improve in terms of the strength:bodyweight ratio and you’ll be able to see what your base physique actually looks like. You just have to be realistic that fat gain comes with the territory when it comes to building your physique; at some point this fat has to come off, and better you float between 12% and the upper teens, with like a ratio of bulking to cutting where the former far outweighs the latter vs yolo’ing it till you get really fat then having to spend a year dieting to get rid of it.
They're all inaccurate, even DEXA which is the most reliable (and expensive), but if you use methods like bio-electrical impedance under the same conditions consistently, or are able to use calipers proficiently, then even if the number given out is incorrect you can see the trend which is fine.
Like most I just use the mirror along with some bf estimation in pictures guides (easily searchable). You can only go by subcutaneous fat, since visceral fat isn't visible, but since the latter is easier for the body to utilise it's typically the first stuff to go - nobody abs lean is going to be carrying much, if any. The thing that throws people off is that when they don't have enough lean mass...
But if you lift and want to look good it's just a range thing:
- 12-16% beach lean, which is low enough for most people to be happy with. Yay abs, muscle definition etc, easy to diet down to without needing to do anything fancy.
- 8-12% you're in ripped territory which is more sustainable for some than others and the lower down the range you go, the more you gross people out with your vascularity/striations. This is where it starts getting hard to achieve but do-able if the mindset is there and you don't mind being a bit OCD with tracking diet/activity.
- <8% unsustainable crazy low levels people in bodybuilding get to for their competitions, which nobody achieves without Herculean dedication and intent... for regular people this is an N/A range.
So really it doesn't matter what the exact % is as much as just aiming to fall in the target range.
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:
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.
Martyn Ford was in my gym today. 6”8 really is as tall as it sounds, especially when you’re an absolute unit.
Once you're out of the noob phase and still wish to train movements with heavy axial (back) loading in the moderate to lower rep ranges. IMO as long as you understand what the belt does/doesn't do and how to use it, then it's a good investment. You don't need one (unless you're a competitive powerlifter in which case you'd just be putting yourself at a disadvantage), but there's no drawback to having one either so it's a good investment for the gym bag.
I'd recommend reading The Belt Bible here by Greg Nuckols which goes over everything someone would want to know. Worth reading the comments too at the bottom.
Helped spot a boy on his 17th birthday squat 227.5kg/500lbs in the gym today (single-ply so knee wraps, although that was an unofficial national record for his weight class). Didn't even taper for it just wanted a birthday PR. DYEL feels...
Not sure, he's been at it a year or two I think:
https://www.instagram.com/harrycassiestrongman/
Also train with these two sometimes (both teenagers):
https://www.instagram.com/_theogoff/
https://www.instagram.com/james.brennan_pl/
Kids can start training whenever - obviously when they're developing still, the focus should be on establishing solid technique and general physical development rather than anything too specific, but I've seen 11-12 year-old kids squatting crazy weights for their size, and nobody in professional sport gets to elite level without starting young, even if they chop and change sports before landing on the one they excel at.
You don't need shoes for deadlifts - for conventional especially any footwear effectively creates a deficit, so the thinner the sole (or none) the better, especially if you have shorter arms and have to bend over more to grab the bar. A heeled shoe puts you at a disadvantage for maximal pulls, which is why no powerlifter deadlifts in WL'ing shoes. If you want a general training shoe that provides stability, especially if you have flat feet etc then there's a lot of options with thin, harder soles.
For squats Olympic weightlifting shoes are most beneficial if the intent is to squat to maximal depth, due to the heel allowing for a more upright torso in the bottom position. They're also beneficial if you have long femurs/short torso and any sort of squat has you more bent over than most people (as the aim of a squat is to grow your legs not your back and the more torso lean, the more the posterior chain has to contribute to the lift).
If you squat low bar or if you only squat to parallel, then a general dedicated trainer like the Reebok Nano's or Nike Metcon's is fine. Minimalist trainers are an option too such as Vibrams, New Balance Minimus etc although it depends on the health of your arches etc.
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These shoes exist for a reason, this sport:
If you don’t squat that low/upright, then there’s no reason to pay for extra heel height, as stability-wise the Metcons aren’t hugely different - hard sole, snug fit etc.
Yep theres a reason they are referred to as Olympic weightlifting shoes
I get triggered whenever I see them called squat shoes! Pull a face like....
On Madcow you increase load by 2.5%, each week and the additional weight serves as the adaptive stimulus, there's no variance there, just different intensities per w/o.
That translates in the real world to...
Lifts <100kg (bench, OHP especially) = buy some fractional 0.5kg plates so you can do 1-1.5kg jumps (e.g. 45kg, 46kg, 47.5kg)
Lifts >100kg = (squat, bench eventually/hopefully) 2.5kg increase
Lifts > 200kg (likely deadlift only, maybe squats if you're a beast) = 5kg increase.
That translates in the real world to...
Lifts <100kg (bench, OHP especially) = buy some fractional 0.5kg plates so you can do 1-1.5kg jumps (e.g. 45kg, 46kg, 47.5kg)
Lifts >100kg = (squat, bench eventually/hopefully) 2.5kg increase
Lifts > 200kg (likely deadlift only, maybe squats if you're a beast) = 5kg increase.
I'm definitely nowhere near 200kg on anything.
It's only squats and deadlifts sometimes jumping by 5kg (but only 2.5kg the rest of the time). I think I may just stick to adding 2.5kg no matter what it says so I don't plateau too early.
Bench and shoulders also give me the same weight 2 weeks in a row at points (which I don't mind because I doubt I'll get to 12 weeks without failing anyway).
Yes, a weekly 2.5kg jump - especially when the idea is to keep reps static at 5 or whatever - is more than enough for the bigger lifts.
This is what I've been doing. No lifts under below 4 reps so don't do any fancy periodisation for the bigger compounds and it's beautiful for someone like me whose job makes for inconsistent recovery/energy.
Push+Pull combined into a 2hr workout... as I'm off skiing for a week tomorrow. Promised myself I'll use the hotel gym for a deload week, however gash it is, rather than doing absolutely nothing... we'll see how that pans out.
Muscleworks and the Pure gym by my work still running as normal...
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