[[[The 2022 Gym Rats Thread]]] ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Somnambulist

Somnambulist

Somnambulist

Soldato
Joined
17 Jun 2010
Posts
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Location
London
New year, new gains!

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Last year's thread
*** Big Fat Weight Loss Thread ***
Official Home Gym Building Thread
2022 Powerlifting Totals Thread (placeholder)

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Hierarchy of importance for Nutrition
Hierarchy of importance for Training
How to squat
How to bench
How to conventional deadlift
How to sumo deadlift
Addressing weaknesses in the above ^^^
Exercise demonstrations (scroll down for individual playlists for each muscle/muscle groups)
Food macro cheat sheet

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Syla5 said:
Something, something, gonna train again apparently!!

Anyone here aware of the Kneesovertoes guy and followed any of his rountines / plans
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It's funny how cyclic training stuff is - things go out of fashion, get forgotten then someone brings it back in a shinier package and suddenly it's like a brand new thing again. That said, some of his stuff is definitely useful as far as pre-hab and strengthening problem areas people often have (knees, low back etc) with progressions etc so I just take what's useful for me I hadn't thought about (although I've been doing things like Jefferson Curls for years already) rather than follow a whole program on top of my regular training.
 
Yeah there's only so much you can do in a day when you're not a full-time athlete.

I'd just make a list of priorities and work on the most important one, then once I was seeing the improvement in whatever problem lift the kotg's stuff is addressing go to the second on the list etc. So if I hypothetically had kneebola for whatever reason, I'd do his stuff for knees when convenient, then assuming progress test/retest the lifts that aggravated said kneebola to see if the issue was fixed and if yes move onto something else, maintaining that positive adaptation by integrating the ability to use a greater ROM comfortably on my existing lifts where possible.
 
Sounds good. I’d probably replace most of the stretching unless you’re doing it for a specific purposes like increasing ROM in a particular area to help with better positions in a lift or to reduce a restriction that’s impacting your quality of life. Not much utility in it otherwise other than it can feel nice (doesn’t seem to reduce injury potential as once believed, for example).I say that as someone who is working on being able to do the pancake, pike, drop-back into bridge etc, does intense stretching a couple of times a week, daily limbering* work and spent a few years going to a pretty intense yoga class twice a week.

*Limbering is just playing around in positions that take things to whatever the comfortable end range is that day; your ROM in any given area is what it is because that’s the ROM you spend the majority of time in, so while you can use stretching to increase ROM temporarily, to really make those positions permanent and effortless to access you have to actually integrate them into daily life.
 
Measurements are always more useful to me than scale weight although I do the daily tracking/weekly average thing with that; chest, 2" above navel, navel, 2" below navel, widest part of hips. Can do thighs and arms too if you're bothered. I only use pictures every 4-6 weeks as changes tend to be pretty slow visually unless you're doing a PSMF type diet where it's short and really low calorie.
 
Absolute unit I was sharing one of the cable stations with today with - Masters level pro BB’er - was just dialling back down from being on 900g carbs a day. 9 0 0 g. RIP toilet bowl.
 
Indeed. It’s crazy how when you see vids of him on stage he looks quite a bit smaller than he does IRL - I guess as there’s no frame of reference. It was the same with Luke Sandoe (and James Hollingshead when he trained at MuscleWorks), they looked big on video but in the flesh they were enormous.

 
I'm making a concerted effort to get sloppy this and next year. 3DMJ had a good podcast the other day on the necessity of weight gain and I can't deny I saw far greater progress just before the pandemic when bodyweight (and fat) had crept up and although I've dieted down and kept the gains I'm falling back into being overly cautious again.

Need to get chonky!

 
Hopefully got a new job which means no more 12hr day/night shifts after 10 years. Hoping I see some return-to-normal-sleeping-pattern gains. Will also mean I don't need 2 gym memberships so hoping for RIP Pure gym, ye shall not be missed.
 
opethdisciple said:
Any one use a pre workout supplement?

Are they worth it?

For example I have been looking at: Optimum Nutrition ON Gold Standard Pre-workout Advanced with l-Citrulline, Beta-alanine and Caffeine which is £24 for 20 servings.

Alternatively I could just buy some caffeine pills which are cheap.

Caffeine pill and banana. :D
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No unless you like the flavours. Caffeine is really the only potentially useful thing in preworkouts that might have an acute benefit for lifting weights but even then the doses required mean you have to take time of day into account otherwise it might disrupt your sleep due to the long half-life (which then might impact recovery and subsequent performance).

Beta-alanine's efficacy is more for endurance type stuff as far as possible benefits in exercise performances. Citrulline... maybe a small ergogenic effect for explosive / high velocity movements but for some reason is often advertised as a pump thing (which has nothing to do with performance).

Buy caffeine pills and spend what you would have on pre workouts on better quality food.
 
Bulk (formerly BulkPowders), GoNutrition, TheProteinWorks. Need to wait for 40-50% off sales or BOGOF but it's still more expensive than it used to be wherever you shop.

In other news the guy I used to train with sometimes, after retiring from powerlifting last year due to his hip capsule exploding shortly after pulling 370kg sumo for a UK record at <100kg un-retired, had to switch to conventional and relearn to squat narrower and higher, but just pulled 368kg for a <105kg British tested record at his comeback meet at the weekend. Big lift!
 
Chuk_Chuk said:
Is there something about the sumo stance that increases the likely hood of damaging your hip capsules? Or was he just unlucky.
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I think it was mainly a consequence of consistently taking his body close to the limits of it's capabilities - he trained at a high intensity all the time and ultimately when you're regularly moving that kind of load, whether in the absolute sense (+300kg pulls, mid-to-high 200kg squats) or relative sense (under/over x3 bw) then there's going to be wear and tear. I think the injury happened during a warm-up rather than a working weight or comp lift; straw that broke the camel's back sort of thing. Powerlifting can be a bit of a graveyard at the top level though so he's not an unusual case.

I think since he started training again he's been a bit more conservative as far as submaximal training, and obviously has to now avoid putting his hip in a position where the compromised tissue is loaded heavily but he's too addicted to training for performance/numbers to give it up and just do bodybuilding or train for aesthetics.
 
I think most of the bulk suppliers get all the stuff from the same sources so it's really just a case of who has the best price and the actual products are all pretty samey although some tend to have flavours others don't.

I usually just buy unflavoured Milk Protein (whey/casein blend) from MP and use the assortment of 0cal FlavDrops I've built up so I'm not stuck with kilos of the same thing and use that for either proats or to make more of a sludge/fluff. Rarely have protein drinks.

Haven't tried pancake mixes but I'm a fan of the mug cake mix (although there's an initial learning process of specific mug w/amount of liquid and cooking time). Tried the 'Protein Dessert' mix too which is like angel delight but it's way too sweet for my liking. Could probably find recipes on YouTube or search for this stuff because it's largley just protein powder and a couple of other bits mixed in, but I'm lazy and like the convenience factor.
 
Omega_ said:
Got bench form down properly now. wrists not hurting and benching 60kg comfortably now. Really happy with my progress in 2 months of training. Im on a 1500 calorie cut eaitng 200 gram of protein 130 of carbs and 30-40 of fat. going well.

Can someone please recommend me some good exercises to strengthen my lower back.
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You want good isometric back strength to to bottom for squats, so for lower back really any of the hinge movements (RDLs, Good Mornings, Back Extensions) are what you're after, combined with learning to brace the core musculature properly and the bodily awareness to keep the movement of the lumbar and pelvis synced throughout. Upper back you should be strengthening with direct work (horizontal and vertical pulling obviously).

I always do a small amount of supplementary dynamic back work taking my spinal erectors through their full range of motion with light weight in case I accidentally end up in a compromised position squatting or doing a hip hinge movement, but it's only a tiny bit of work at the end of a leg day and the meat and potatoes of my low back strength has been built up from just doing hip hinges with correct form.
 
Me too! Only ever gym injury I've ever had was I woke up with a crick in my neck, went and trained and then tore a muscle around my traps/neck doing OHP. Couldn't even get out of bed or tie laces for a while without my head being supported first. Couldn't turn my head to one side either. No me gusta.
 
Speaking of belt notches, I’m kind of tempted to get the Titan PAL belt (and sell the SBD if it’s legit) - it’s still a lever belt insofar as big changes in circumference require getting out the screwdriver and moving the base, but with any given position you can adjust the tightness by a few inches in half-inch increments. The SBD only lets you adjust inch by inch, which sometimes means I find myself wanting to be in between notches for the ideal tightness for various reasons.

You can buy the adjustable lever on it’s own as well although they recommend it with a 13mm belt and it’s not compatible with some belts (like the SBD) but should work with most lever ones.
 
Exactly that - even when dieting my waistline isn't changing more than a couple of inches so I'd imagine at most I'd have to get the screwdriver out towards the end of a diet/bulk to shift it one notch, but otherwise the adjustable range would be sufficient.
 
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