***The 2021 Gym Rats Thread*** ᕦ( ͠°◞ °)ᕥ

[CaptainRAVE]

Shoulder is done in, knee is done in.

Not sure I'll ever bother trying to lift anything substantial again.

A sudden injury or usage over time?

 

[tom_e]

A sudden injury or usage over time?

Shoulder has been a long standing issue although has been relatively ok for the last few years but now feels like it's finally had enough.

Knee is similar it's always felt a little off but never painful since it got stamped on when I was a kid, again it now seems like it's had enough.

I think the jump back from the lockdowns has finally pushed both over the edge.

I've been meaning to sort private medical for a bit so this might be the push to sort that out and then get them both looked at but it just feels like my body is a bit mangled these days, anyone would think I was a pensioner

 

[uncle_rufus]

Gosh the numbers being talked about in here make me feel like such a scrawny noob

But I think I'm making some progress, ironically enough I started to suspect I was rather chasing always pushing to the highest weight I could and maybe even further every session but I'd noticed that I was struggling to maintain good form and good range of motion doing that... so the last week or so I've lowered the weight a bit and really concentrating on trying to do full and slow/moderate speed movements and really stress and exhaust the muscles properly. Seems to be effective and I can feel it more the next day which I guess is a good sign

 

[Defy Belief]

Shoulder has been a long standing issue although has been relatively ok for the last few years but now feels like it's finally had enough.

Knee is similar it's always felt a little off but never painful since it got stamped on when I was a kid, again it now seems like it's had enough.

I think the jump back from the lockdowns has finally pushed both over the edge.

I've been meaning to sort private medical for a bit so this might be the push to sort that out and then get them both looked at but it just feels like my body is a bit mangled these days, anyone would think I was a pensioner

Not to derail but just if you're not aware, with your knee and shoulder issues being pre existing, medical insurance won't cover it. So would be self fund only.

 

[tom_e]

Not to derail but just if you're not aware, with your knee and shoulder issues being pre existing, medical insurance won't cover it. So would be self fund only.

Knee has never been looked at by a doctor and the last time my shoulder was looked at was 10+ years ago so my understanding is as long as I go for moratorium underwriting then they're well outside of the time frame needed to be covered with Aviva at least.

 

[Martynt74]

Knee has never been looked at by a doctor and the last time my shoulder was looked at was 10+ years ago so my understanding is as long as I go for moratorium underwriting then they're well outside of the time frame needed to be covered with Aviva at least.

With Vitality i think it's no re-curring issues within 5 years (might even be 3), so even the following logic would be sufficient

2016 - Medical evidence of injury
2017 - Start of policy
2021 - Claim would be valid as it had been 5 years since the last doctors notes.

As you say, the knee should be perfectly covered and i'd be surprised if the shoulder wasn't. I've had some issues with my ankle from when i sprained it in ~2013 and i've had plenty physio recently despite telling them of the cause.

 

[Defy Belief]

Knee has never been looked at by a doctor and the last time my shoulder was looked at was 10+ years ago so my understanding is as long as I go for moratorium underwriting then they're well outside of the time frame needed to be covered with Aviva at least.

Afraid not, whether you have seen a doctor or not is irrelevant. Moratorium underwriting excludes anything you've had 'symptoms, treatment, or advice' for in the last 5 years - I'm an ex insurance adviser.

There would be no insurance companies in business and no one would buy a policy until they got a problem if that were the case.

 

[tom_e]

Afraid not, whether you have seen a doctor or not is irrelevant. Moratorium underwriting excludes anything you've had 'symptoms, treatment, or advice' for in the last 5 years - I'm an ex insurance adviser.

There would be no insurance companies in business and no one would buy a policy until they got a problem if that were the case.

Under Moratorium Underwriting, you may be covered for pre-existing conditions depending on when you last experienced symptoms or received medication, diagnostic tests, treatment or advice for it. If this was within the five years before you joined, then you will not be covered for it until you have been free from any medication, treatment, diagnostic tests or advice for two continuous years.

Let's think about that in real terms.

If you had pain in your left knee three years before you joined the policy, treatment for that condition will not be covered when you join. You may still experience symptoms but will need to wait until two continuous years have passed after joining the policy without any treatment, diagnostic tests, medication or advice for that knee condition. You will then be covered for that condition after that two-year period has ended.

If you receive any treatment, diagnostic tests, medication or advice about the knee condition within two years after you join, you will have to wait until two continuous years have passed from when it all stopped.

Their wording seems to say if you've had symptoms/treatment/etc. within the last 5 years then as long as you've not had anything to do with the doctors within the last 2 then it's covered, or am I reading that wrong?

 

[Defy Belief]

Their wording seems to say if you've had symptoms/treatment/etc. within the last 5 years then as long as you've not had anything to do with the doctors within the last 2 then it's covered, or am I reading that wrong?

'You may still experience symptoms but will need to wait until two continuous years have passed after joining the policy without any treatment, diagnostic tests, medication or advice for that knee condition. You will then be covered for that condition after that two-year period has ended.'

So you take it out, its not covered initially as you've had symptoms in the last 5 years, IF you go two years without symptoms, treatment or advice it would then be covered after holding the policy for 2 years. But if you've had this since you were a child, chance of that is pretty much zero.

Edit it actually doesn't say symptoms on the second part, so there is potential they might cover it after 2 years if you dont get any treatment/tests/meds or advice. But that's still a long wait if it's giving you grief now. 2 years of premiums could be very expensive depending on your age and location etc too. (they used to all be symptoms, treatment and advice for the second part to, i've not been an adviser for around 2 years now! I guess they're banking on you not paying premiums for 2 years or it not being a serious issue if you've not needed any advice/treatment/tests etc)

It's the murkiest water i've ever been in selling PMI...hated it.

 

[tom_e]

Edit it actually doesn't say symptoms on the second part, so there is potential they might cover it after 2 years if you dont get any treatment/tests/meds or advice. But that's still a long wait if it's giving you grief now. 2 years of premiums could be very expensive depending on your age and location etc too. (they used to all be symptoms, treatment and advice for the second part to, i've not been an adviser for around 2 years now! I guess they're banking on you not paying premiums for 2 years or it not being a serious issue if you've not needed any advice/treatment/tests etc)

It's the murkiest water i've ever been in selling PMI...hated it.

It's that bit that was confusing me as well, anyway I've just spoken to them and they confirmed I'd need to wait the 2 years as symptoms began before the cover.

If the news is correct it'll take me that long to work through the NHS waiting list anyway

 

[CaptainRAVE]

Tougher bench day today. Probably the heat. It’s rare that I don’t improve on the previous week. I’ve dropped a fraction of body weight too, probably water loss. This new working weight is proving a real sticking point. Been here before though, just need to be patient. This happened at the start of the year for 6 weeks and then I progressed consistently for 4-5 more weight increases.

 

[B&W]

Had a lovely couple of weekend sessions after a crappy week with not much time to workout, same next week.

Hit close grip barbell bench 80 for 5 reps. I rarely do DB press but have been doing for 3 weeks now hit 42 for 3 after almost spraining my shoulder by not getting into right position. Should have asked someone for a lift up...

Today morning did strict standing OHP and hit 60kg for a double. Happy with that as I haven't trained this regularly over the last 6 months. Will do now after squats on Sunday...

On another note met a powerlifter yesterday, I was impressed with his bench technique and his use of leg drive.

I really tried to implement this leg drive but it never happened. Think I should learn it.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

I never bother with leg drive. Fair enough if I was doing competition prep, but I want the focus on my upper body. That’s not to say with some movements I don’t use some drive for my top set, but never for bench. Same with extreme back arch, I just leave it at a comfortable more natural position.

 

[B&W]

I never bother with leg drive. Fair enough if I was doing competition prep, but I want the focus on my upper body. That’s not to say with some movements I don’t use some drive for my top set, but never for bench. Same with extreme back arch, I just leave it at a comfortable more natural position.

Yeah that's what I think too but to see a small guy lift the same as me with better form and more reps was impressive.

The arch I can't do properly it's just uncomfortable, I can pinch the shoulder blades together and get a slight arch. But it gets lost over reps lol.

The leg drive I don't know how they do these...

My real problem though is my deadlifts, I know I'm doing something wrong so I will get him to watch me next time.

 

[B&W]

Oh and just saw this tiktok bodybuilder at my local barbers. Good muscle mass and very low body fat.

Don't think I gonna get that low lol. I was tempted to ask him his totals

 

[Somnambulist]

From a technical standpoint if you’re doing leg drive properly all that’s happening is you’re maintaining isometric tension in the legs to keep the rest of your body anchored, minimising leaking energy from things like lateral movement and your arch (which for 99% of stiff, non-bendy men is more about reducing the ROM slightly for the sake of your shoulders) degrading when you’re pressing the bar. It really depends if you want your BB bench to be more like a DB bench or you want to maximise the efficiency with which your pecs, triceps and anterior delts can press the bar and make it closer to a machine-like movement.

Of course there’s max tension leg drive at one end and ‘dancing disco legs’ at the other and you don’t have to go to the extremes but IMO it’s better to learn how to get yourself planted and tight with bench so you can get a consistent movement pattern down first and know what they feels like, then you can play around with dialling that down after.

 

[exhashdotdot]

Absolutely embarassed by my gym total this year due to the pandemic (comparison is the thief of joy and all that but hopefully you guys are all in a similar boat). I've also (again, like some of you) gained a bit of weight of the last year so I've finally started dieting because I've lost quite a bit of definition. The main culprit was I've been snacking on Galaxy and those sour Lidl sweets (which are way more incredible than they have any right to be) and I'm already seeing results just from cutting those.



I got into running over the pandemic so this weight gain happened even though I've been running 4-5 km three times a week; just goes to show how much I've been absolutely smashing those galaxy bars haha.

Current lifts (pre-pandemic)
Squat: 160x5 (190x5)
Bench: 110x5 (125x5)
Deadlift: 230x5 (200x5)

so I've gotten back on 531 for powerlifting to bring those numbers at.

Anyway, maybe some of you will find that interesting. I've definitely never trained for powerlifting and done running simultaneously so we'll see what happens here. I don't really feel they synergise at all but I'm very happy that I can't actually run for longer than a few minutes now.

 

[Somnambulist]

Deload week. Trained legs. Got jab. Did night shift. Dead arm. Slept. Still dead arm. Trained push anyway.

Mini-cut starts next week, been ages since I've been on poverty calories but I need to be able to sit down with my work trousers buttoned up.

 

[CaptainRAVE]

A tiny bit of a lower back twinge today, feels quite central too and only when I bend my back. Nothing crazy, probably 1 on a pain scale, but enough to stop me doing most of my back program later. A rest day would probably be a good thing anyway.

 

[B&W]

I've put on like 4 pounds in 3 weeks in this bulking phase. Though this last week has been messed up due to work messed up training but still managed to get 4 sessions in.

Where do you get them tape things that let you measure your arm or waist. Not the old fashioned tapes I saw some video once someone doing it with this fancy one.