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

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barrelofwine said:
+1

My daily work rucksack content consists of a lunchbox, coffee thermos, push-ups bars, and gymnastic rings. All optimized for lunch break workout. Concept 2 Model C at home and I haven't been to the gym for years.
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My upper body staples for lockdown 1 were push-ups on bars w/feet elevated, dips, ring pull-ups and feet elevated ring rows, then some band stuff for bis/tris/shoulders (done more in of the vague hope of providing stimulation than expectation). Maintained okay but need to add load to keep the reps down to an approproiate level but that’s what the EZ Vest is for. The trouble with callisthenics stuff is the variations to make exercises harder often get a bit ridiculous when it’d be easier just to make myself heavier.

I absolutely can’t bring myself to do several sets of 30-40 pistol squats or step-ups again though, I need weight for leg training or I’m going to go loopy!
 
I never really learnt how to do them per se; between working on my squat depth and yoga I developed good ankle flexility* and balance, and my squat numbers aren’t terrible for my bodyweight so when I tried to do pistols I got the hang of them pretty quickly as I had both the mobility, strength and balance. I now use my lifting shoes* and do them by the edge of the stairs or on a box so my free foot doesn’t have to be lifted quite as high throughout, because I’m more interested in taking each working leg through a full ROM than anything else.

*this is the no1 reason most people can’t do them. If you have limited dorsiflexion then you can’t get your knee forward past your toes. If you can’t get your knee forward, your hips will be too far back and you’ll fall over backwards. You have to be able to keep your centre of mass over the middle of your foot from top to bottom. I can do them barefoot fine but use lifters (shoes with hard sole and heel lift that’s between 0.65-1”) because they provide a lot of lateral stability and provide the equivalent of even more flexible ankles, which makes just concentrating on going down and up easier.

The other reason people struggle is they might already do leg work but when they go to pistol they’re not used sitting on their calves in that deep position and so haven’t built up strength at the bottom to initiate standing back up.

My tips would be:
Balance - have something next to you to hold on to, or tie a resistance band to something and use that like a rope to keep you steady, don’t rely on it and you’ll need it less and less over time. Do single leg balance stuff when you’re cleaning your teeth or waiting for the coffee/tea to brew.

Flexibility - sit in a bodyweight squat for 5 mins a day, opening up your hips and leaning onto each thigh to push the knee forward and stretch the calf/get the ankles down on the floor. If you have weights you can do loaded hip and ankle stretches too which I like.

Strength - if all you’re doing is single leg bodyweight work, use an assisted variation where you can still get full ROM and complete reps, then over time use less assistance... and if you lift already then you might well have the strength already, you’re just lacking one of the two above.
 
My problem was always the knee pain, tendons not muscles. I've done sets of 12 but then dropped them because I was scared and had way too many friends that had to quit basketball (my favorite/best sport) because of knee problems.
 
barrelofwine said:
My problem was always the knee pain, tendons not muscles. I've done sets of 12 but then dropped them because I was scared and had way too many friends that had to quit basketball (my favorite/best sport) because of knee problems.
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I am guessing you mean ligaments?

If so, then the stability of your knee is more the issue, here, and keeping the force through the right parts of the joint during the squat, I. E. Your knee is too far to one side or something.

Start from a sitting position and see if it still hurts...

I stopped them because deficit Bulgarian Split Squats allow much more control... :cool:
 
That’s why I ended up doing more step-ups (just above knee height) than pistols last lockdown; puts the pelvis in a better position I find as loaded pistols require you to be a proper mobility freak who can do a solid L-sit to avoid butt-wink unless you’re elevated and can let the front leg droop a bit without it hitting the floor. BSS I find it really easy to push through the rear leg too much, which explains why I was doing them with 25kg DBs in each hand at one point - really have to strive to get 90% of the load in the front leg only, which obviously saves having to hold nearly as much weight for multiple sets.

As for knee pain, yes it’s about a) stability and not moving in a way that’s jarring for your joints, but also b) strengthening said joints/ligaments in the desired position, so you might be able to move x load y times with your muscles but need to scale it back and spend time building it up slowly (e.g. increasing volume via sets or reps rather than adding weight) to let your connective tissue catch up.
 
Couldn't face another lockdown without gym access so invested in some good resistance bands with a few accessories. Bizarre how good they are! Translated a lot of my regular routine into some full body workout stuff and feels just as good if not better in certain respects. The pump with some of the heavier bands is insane!

Thinking about getting a cheap bench and some DBs to accent the home training a bit.
 
DrToffnar said:
Couldn't face another lockdown without gym access so invested in some good resistance bands with a few accessories. Bizarre how good they are! Translated a lot of my regular routine into some full body workout stuff and feels just as good if not better in certain respects. The pump with some of the heavier bands is insane!

Thinking about getting a cheap bench and some DBs to accent the home training a bit.
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I was surprised by just how effective bands are, I wasn't expecting much but with a handful of bands and a door strap you can really punish yourself :D
 
Freefaller said:
Funnily enough I'm friends with his trainer - Acos. I hadn't put 2 and 2 together until now.
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Small world isn’t it! I miss training with the powerlifting crew but they all went to Crayford because Muscleworks jacked up their prices after lockdown... it’s only 5mins down the road from me and it’s just not worth a much longer drive just to save a few quid a month.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
Crazy, especially given he doesn't actually look that huge considering the weight.
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He’s around 100kg, 6ft. Been training since he was 14 (is 24-25 now) so to me is a good example of what’s possible with elite genetics + work ethic. He’s very anti-PED too... I think when you’re naturally that gifted at getting bigger/stronger you probably don’t understand why normal people get tempted.
 
From what I've heard he is a solid committed lifter and follows his training plan and diet religiously.

He's definitely got some lucky genetics, but he's also worked a lot harder than a lot of people realise.
 
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