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

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SideWinder said:
What is full power lifter? :o
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There’s a long-running joke that since powerlifters care the most about 1RM squat/bench/deadlift strength and ‘weight moves weight’, they tend to forget about body fat %.*

*This has gotten less true now the sport has gotten more professional (for an amateur endeavour) since outside of the weight-unlimited category you ideally want to fill your weight class with as much muscle as possible, but regardless your average powerlifter will tend to have a bit more fluff than their bodybuilding/physique ‘sport’ gym relatives) during the off-season.
 
Somnambulist said:
There’s a long-running joke that since powerlifters care the most about 1RM squat/bench/deadlift strength and ‘weight moves weight’, they tend to forget about body fat %.*

*This has gotten less true now the sport has gotten more professional (for an amateur endeavour) since outside of the weight-unlimited category you ideally want to fill your weight class with as much muscle as possible, but regardless your average powerlifter will tend to have a bit more fluff than their bodybuilding/physique ‘sport’ gym relatives) during the off-season.
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Ahhh ha!

Yeah i want the Ibiza body so...definitely monitoring my bodyfat. :p
 
Soooo as promised. Realised they should be the other way around. :o Using a renpho to monitor progress.

I was 73kg last December at 20% bodyfat or so. I could have made progress faster but i have a weakness for Greggs/pizza when hungover plus alcohol normally once a week.

Aim is to remove that last lower bellyfat before increasing calorie intake slowly. Currently taking in 1500 a day with at least 100g of protein.

Now
BW: 58kg
Bodyfat: 10.1%

Can't see my legs but squatting 65kg 5x6, deadlift 90kg 5x5, ohp 35kg 5x5 and bench 50kg 3x8. These are approx as i am pushing hard at the moment.

Before (Pic taken in March of this year)

 
tom_e said:
Dem feels when you're having a pathetic leg day and the girl behind you is repping at least 2.5x bw 160kg deads like she's just warming up :o
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Ouch. But there's not much more inspiring than a strong woman. :cool:

Somnambulist said:
There’s a long-running joke that since powerlifters care the most about 1RM squat/bench/deadlift strength and ‘weight moves weight’, they tend to forget about body fat %.*

*This has gotten less true now the sport has gotten more professional (for an amateur endeavour) since outside of the weight-unlimited category you ideally want to fill your weight class with as much muscle as possible, but regardless your average powerlifter will tend to have a bit more fluff than their bodybuilding/physique ‘sport’ gym relatives) during the off-season.
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Yessir... I say that as somebody focusing more on time trial cycling now, too. :o

So tempting to drop this cardio to maintenance and stack the plates...
 
SideWinder said:
Deadlift PB of 90kg 5x5. As for 1RM, maybe 110kg...unsure.

I think i will need to get up some before and after photos of myself for you guys. :p

Also down to 10% bodyfat this morning according to my renpho. I am at 59kg but there is this last pouch of lower belly fat that neeeeeds to go. Guessing it'll be around the 9.5% mark.
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I got my BF% pretty low but still couldn't get rid of mine. I've given up now and am putting on weight far too quickly. Haha.

Looking good in your new pic, dude!
 
ShortWarning said:
I got my BF% pretty low but still couldn't get rid of mine. I've given up now and am putting on weight far too quickly. Haha.

Looking good in your new pic, dude!
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Thank you! My arms are quite big now which i am happy about!

The urge to "bulk" is strong but going to keep going...slow and steady. Not drank alcohol in 8 days so that has helped...as no Greggs on a hangover. :p
 
Today's chest and triceps workout hit the spot.

Current weight 81.5kg

Bench Press
60x12, 80x10, 100x10, 100x13

Chest dips
BWx16, +20x14, +30x11 -> BWx10 (drop set)

Incline DB Press Unilateral
34x10 (per side), 34x10 (per side), 34x8 (per side)

Tricep Rope Extensions (maximum stretch at the top and to failure)
20x20, 20x20, 20x15

Lying DB Tricep Extensions
8x16, 8x15 - again max stretch, at the bottom. The burn is so deep.

Tricep Pushdown Reverse grip
15x17, 15x14, 15x14

DB Flys
12x13. 12x15 - mostly for the big stretch.

Highlights video. Happy with the 100x13. Video text is wrong, it's not 110 it's 100x13.

Dem vegan gains.
 
SideWinder said:
Soooo as promised. Realised they should be the other way around. :o Using a renpho to monitor progress.

I was 73kg last December at 20% bodyfat or so. I could have made progress faster but i have a weakness for Greggs/pizza when hungover plus alcohol normally once a week.

Aim is to remove that last lower bellyfat before increasing calorie intake slowly. Currently taking in 1500 a day with at least 100g of protein.

Now
BW: 58kg
Bodyfat: 10.1%

Can't see my legs but squatting 65kg 5x6, deadlift 90kg 5x5, ohp 35kg 5x5 and bench 50kg 3x8. These are approx as i am pushing hard at the moment.

Before (Pic taken in March of this year)
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I’m not sure how much leaner you need to get really, especially at your bodyweight. How tall are you? Your % looks low enough to bulk slowly now for a good while and put on some mass. I know it can be fun getting diced, especially if you haven’t done it before, but what you find is your body does not like going under or even maintaining a certain % (which will be different for everyone and only you’ll know) and mood/sex drive/hunger/training quality and progress all suffer.

I say this as someone who has dieted down to silly bodyfat levels to see what was lying underneath, but ultimately realising if I had more muscle in the first place I wouldn’t need to go low enough that my body looked like a road map. This is a couple of years ago when I last dieted hard: about 60kg @ at 5”8 (with my hair styled lol) and in need of far more fat-free mass. I’ve grown a bit since this but still a long way to go!

T0xyRXJ.jpg
 
@Somnambulist Hmm noted. I think as i am hovering between 10.1% - 10.5% i want to push a bit further. I am definitely not showing as many veins as the pics above so think i can do it. Must be 7 or 8% in those pics maybe?!

I am 5"8.



Noted on mood etc. Will keep an eye out on that. If anything, i am happier/more determined/energetic so it isn't impacting me at all.

I know i need to add direct ab exercises...used to do a lot but it paused when gyms re-opened. Starting to add in leg raises every so often and need to try hanging ones soon.
 
SideWinder said:
@Somnambulist Hmm noted. I think as i am hovering between 10.1% - 10.5% i want to push a bit further. I am definitely not showing as many veins as the pics above so think i can do it. Must be 7 or 8% in those pics maybe?!

I am 5"8.



Noted on mood etc. Will keep an eye out on that. If anything, i am happier/more determined/energetic so it isn't impacting me at all.

I know i need to add direct ab exercises...used to do a lot but it paused when gyms re-opened. Starting to add in leg raises every so often and need to try hanging ones soon.
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Vascularity is really individual/genetic. I think a lot of the time we want to get leaner to see more definition etc, but if you haven’t got much underneath in the first place it’s not going to appear no matter how lean you get. Ultimately we want to grow (and be beach lean closer to 70kg than 60kg at our height!) so the less time we spend dieting the better.

Leg raises are really more of a hip flexor exercise unless you’re doing the crunch at the top; ideally for hypertrophy you want a mix of stuff that takes the abs through their (very small) ROM like cable crunches that you can progressively load easily, and some anti-flexion/rotation for the deeper core muscles to strengthen your braced position in squats/deads.
 
@Somnambulist Okay cool cheers. Leg raises, yeah i am doing the crunch at the top. I used to do a core session that includes the cycle crunch, star crunch, plank, plank where you raise each leg at a time, knee to elbow plank, in and outs etc.

Will see how i progress in a month. :)
 
What are people's thoughts on reaching your genetic limit? Lets say you've peaked, you cannot really gain anymore size or strength due to your age/limits of your hormones. In fact, you know you've reached your peak and it's a gradual decline over the next few decades. Does it affect your mind set when it comes to training? For example, if you knew that hitting the gym hard each session wouldn't result in any growth or strength size.
 
LiE said:
What are people's thoughts on reaching your genetic limit? Lets say you've peaked, you cannot really gain anymore size or strength due to your age/limits of your hormones. In fact, you know you've reached your peak and it's a gradual decline over the next few decades. Does it affect your mind set when it comes to training? For example, if you knew that hitting the gym hard each session wouldn't result in any growth or strength size.
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I'm so far from my genetic potential so I'm purely speculating but I'd like to think I'd continue working out but I wouldn't necessarily push myself so much in case of injury.

What I've never been sure of is what you'd need to be lifting to maintain what you have? So if you can bench 100kg, what would you need to bench to not lose what you currently have?

I'd also probably do a lot more mobility stuff to try and prolong flexibility for as long as possible.
 
LiE said:
What are people's thoughts on reaching your genetic limit? Lets say you've peaked, you cannot really gain anymore size or strength due to your age/limits of your hormones. In fact, you know you've reached your peak and it's a gradual decline over the next few decades. Does it affect your mind set when it comes to training? For example, if you knew that hitting the gym hard each session wouldn't result in any growth or strength size.
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This is on my mind a lot, especially in my mid 30s. I’m getting back up to prelockdown strength, but I was definitely hitting a wall there - probably a combination of genetics and age. I do struggle if I’m not progressing - I hammer my diet and effort during lifting, there comes a point where I just can’t gain much more. Does it affect my mindset, not that much actually - I accept age, although it can be a little depressing seeing the decline of some of my favourite lifters. I still just aim to look and feel the best I can - stopping wont help this, so I push on.
 
DanTheMan said:
I'm so far from my genetic potential so I'm purely speculating but I'd like to think I'd continue working out but I wouldn't necessarily push myself so much in case of injury.

What I've never been sure of is what you'd need to be lifting to maintain what you have? So if you can bench 100kg, what would you need to bench to not lose what you currently have?

I'd also probably do a lot more mobility stuff to try and prolong flexibility for as long as possible.
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Yea don't get me wrong, I would never stop training, I really enjoy it. I have between training since 17 years old, I'm 35 now. It's part of my life.

To maintain your strength, you need to keep lifting heavy :)

CaptainRAVE said:
This is on my mind a lot, especially in my mid 30s. I’m getting back up to prelockdown strength, but I was definitely hitting a wall there - probably a combination of genetics and age. I do struggle if I’m not progressing - I hammer my diet and effort during lifting, there comes a point where I just can’t gain much more. Does it affect my mindset, not that much actually - I accept age, although it can be a little depressing seeing the decline of some of my favourite lifters. I still just aim to look and feel the best I can - stopping wont help this, so I push on.
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As above, would never stop lifting that's for sure. It's just a weird feeling that you step in the gym and the gains aren't really a thing, or they are so small you won't notice. I'm 35 now and stopped doing powerlifting around 7 years ago due to injuries. It's taken a few years to build back up after having those injuries and having a baby but I actually look slightly better than when I was at my previous peak 7 years ago. I'm just really conscious that gains aren't something that continue on an upward trend over your entire lifetime.
 
Even if you peak, you can maintain your peak in line with your age - so if your peak at 20 is 500kg total, and your peak at 30 is 600kg, your peak at 40 might still be between both, or even higher if you train regularly. But let's say your peak drops to 520kg at 50, then that's fine, your peak is your best that you can achieve at that age.

It is worth noting from mid 30s your testosterone levels and other hormones start shifting so naturally your peak will decrease. You could slow down your peak by going on TRT if you qualify for it, but most of us don't ever hit low T levels enough for it to have a negative impact, but T levels DO decrease regardless.

My age starts with a 4... and my strength seems to be as good as ever. However I'm a lot more conscious of my diet, and hormone balance (I do blood tests regularly and make sure I'm getting the best nutrition I can). Furthermore, I'm not pushing being lean. I'm probably 15%+ bodyfat, which increases naturally with age again (annoyingly), yet I have abs, tonnes of vascularity in the arms, as well as more in the legs. But I do carry some fat around the belly and back.

I'm not chasing to be super lean as I'm not in this for the leanness, I'm after more strength and easy maintenance - keeping lean is not fun / easy (for me!).

Yesterday I did 200kg for 3 which even at my "peak" 5+ years ago I wouldn't have been able to do.

https://streamable.com/0ueu0k

It doesn't make sense, other than the fact I've been working harder in the gym than before - I'm more focussed and driven.
 
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