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

[opethdisciple]

OK so I bought some pre workout powder.

I purchased some Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-workout Advanced powder and tried it out today.

I took 3 measured scoops as it said on the tub however I felt absolutely NOTHING at all from the pre workout drink.

I have been taking 200mg of caffeine in the form of pro plus tablets for the last few weeks pre workout so I know what to expect at least from the caffeine.

However taking the pre workout I felt nothing. No caffeine buzz, no beta alanine tingles etc....

This makes me wonder if perhaps what I have bought from Amazon is a fake product?

I've emailed Optimum Nutrition to see what they have to say.

 

[oHUTCHYo]

OK so I bought some pre workout powder.

I purchased some Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-workout Advanced powder and tried it out today.

I took 3 measured scoops as it said on the tub however I felt absolutely NOTHING at all from the pre workout drink.

I have been taking 200mg of caffeine in the form of pro plus tablets for the last few weeks pre workout so I know what to expect at least from the caffeine.

However taking the pre workout I felt nothing. No caffeine buzz, no beta alanine tingles etc....

This makes me wonder if perhaps what I have bought from Amazon is a fake product?

I've emailed Optimum Nutrition to see what they have to say.

Nothing I've tried hits as hard as Cellucor C4. Its sad that I'm reliant on the stuff but - frankly I don't care as there is a night and day difference in my work output when I hit the gym at 4pm following a hard day at work. Coupled with some good techno it gets me a in very good tempo for a quality hour of hypertrophy training.

I love the jittery "am I having a heart attack?" beta alanine tingles before a sesh

 

[ShortWarning]

I like the idea of pre workout but I can't train till 6 in the evening so I'd be worried I won't sleep. Normally just have a Monster Energy an hour beforehand, I'm not convinced it does anything, just placebo.

Many years ago I took the now banned Jack3d before a workout. I'm not convinced it helped much with the workout but I didn't sleep a wink all night.

@mushtafa This is the best thread to post any gym related questions you might have regarding lifting.

In terms of this progress isnt just increasing weights, you could try sticking to 72.5kg until you can do all 3 sets for 12 reps, then next week increase the weight to 75kg and go back to 12/10/8, each time progressing until you can do the weight for 12 reps each and then go again.

Not sure how right this is but my coach often gets me performing the same amount of reps but in different set ranges.

Say I need to get 3x5 out and I'm hard stuck. You could try 5x3 for a couple of weeks then go back to 3x5. You're at the same volume with more rest. I often get hard stuck at high rep ranges (10-12).

 

[MikeTheNative]

Nah that's about right. If your stuck at weight/rep a change to reps (higher or lower) can help you break the plateau. Saying that as I would say as your now having more rest you should up the weight a bit.
Another vote for C4 here, don't often take pre workout anymore but if i did would get c4 again.

 

[Delvis]

OK so I bought some pre workout powder.

I purchased some Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Pre-workout Advanced powder and tried it out today.

I took 3 measured scoops as it said on the tub however I felt absolutely NOTHING at all from the pre workout drink.

I have been taking 200mg of caffeine in the form of pro plus tablets for the last few weeks pre workout so I know what to expect at least from the caffeine.

However taking the pre workout I felt nothing. No caffeine buzz, no beta alanine tingles etc....

This makes me wonder if perhaps what I have bought from Amazon is a fake product?

I've emailed Optimum Nutrition to see what they have to say.

More importantly how are the knees

You've been taking caffeine tablets, your caffeine tolerance (and buzz tolerance) is going to be higher.

 

[Syla5]

I like the idea of pre workout but I can't train till 6 in the evening so I'd be worried I won't sleep. Normally just have a Monster Energy an hour beforehand, I'm not convinced it does anything, just placebo.

Many years ago I took the now banned Jack3d before a workout. I'm not convinced it helped much with the workout but I didn't sleep a wink all night.



Not sure how right this is but my coach often gets me performing the same amount of reps but in different set ranges.

Say I need to get 3x5 out and I'm hard stuck. You could try 5x3 for a couple of weeks then go back to 3x5. You're at the same volume with more rest. I often get hard stuck at high rep ranges (10-12).

Variation is the importance, i just offered one variation option. Doing a weight for 5 reps is always going to be harder then doing that same weight for 3 rep sets, even if you do 5 sets. Still you want to add progressive overload in there somewhere, either by increasing the weight, or intensity.

 

[opethdisciple]

More importantly how are the knees

You've been taking caffeine tablets, your caffeine tolerance (and buzz tolerance) is going to be higher.

Unfortunately my knees are wrecked mate.

As a recap I had an acl recon in my left knee and I have patellofemoral arthritis in the right.

In the summer of 2020 I decided to go to the park to do some exercise. I was doing some running.

I ran once on the Monday no issue, on the Wed no issue and went back on the Sat to do some more.

I was doing sprints on uneven grass in the park.

I woke up the next morning to see my left knee had swollen (knee effusion)

I also started to really hurt me. Then one day my knee just buckled. Basically the acl got stretched out and the bottom half of the leg was giving way.

It was about 18 months until I was able to walk again fairly normally.

Things are still screwed but the knee improved. I was seriously thinking I might need an acl revision reconstruction in Jan 2022 but I am hoping to avoid it.

Knee is still loose but it doesn't give way any more.

However you cant unstretch the acl so I still have a lot of laxity in the knee joint.

Only thing I can do is carry on working on my hamstrings and quads.

I cant do squats due to the other knee but at least I have the leg press which allows me to load it up.

As for the caffeine. I use it only twice a week on an upper day. 200mg pro plus really helps. But this pre workout did absolutely nothing. Not even a caffeine high.

 

[tom_e]

As for the caffeine. I use it only twice a week on an upper day. 200mg pro plus really helps. But this pre workout did absolutely nothing. Not even a caffeine high.

Optimum Nutrition is all branding and no content really.

My general rule is, if you can buy it in Holland and Barret or the supermarket then don't expect much from it.

 

[Syla5]

I cant do squats due to the other knee but at least I have the leg press which allows me to load it up.

This really is counter intuitive to what you are describing as your issues. Squat and leg press movements are predominantly the same, especially in terms of movement through the knee joint...

knee issue snip

A perfect candidate to check out kneesovertoes guy and ATGonline programs and follow them religiously for at least 6 months. Surgery is not always the answer, exhaust your none surgery options first imo.

 

[ShortWarning]

Variation is the importance, i just offered one variation option. Doing a weight for 5 reps is always going to be harder then doing that same weight for 3 rep sets, even if you do 5 sets. Still you want to add progressive overload in there somewhere, either by increasing the weight, or intensity.

For clarity, I was saying I'm not sure how right the advice I proceeded to give was, not the advice you were giving. Your advice is always spot on!

 

[B&W]

Fasting this year, have been doing my workouts usual time around mid day. Am tempted to do them at 6 to get protein in around hour or so after.

But would find that hard tbh.

 

[Syla5]

For clarity, I was saying I'm not sure how right the advice I proceeded to give was, not the advice you were giving. Your advice is always spot on!

Ah, your advice was perfectly fine as well

 

[Freefaller]

nice work, im torn between starting another cycle of my current routine today or having a mini rep max test week.

I always like to finish a mesocycle with some 1RMs attempts. I also tend to taper towards them towards the end of a microcycle as well.

I like the idea of pre workout but I can't train till 6 in the evening so I'd be worried I won't sleep. Normally just have a Monster Energy an hour beforehand, I'm not convinced it does anything, just placebo.

Many years ago I took the now banned Jack3d before a workout. I'm not convinced it helped much with the workout but I didn't sleep a wink all night.



Not sure how right this is but my coach often gets me performing the same amount of reps but in different set ranges.

Say I need to get 3x5 out and I'm hard stuck. You could try 5x3 for a couple of weeks then go back to 3x5. You're at the same volume with more rest. I often get hard stuck at high rep ranges (10-12).

You can get non caffeine workouts, which can give you "the tingles" etc..., but frankly, preworkouts other than caffeine do sod all. I tend to train on a medium-full stomach, and some medium-high GI foods to get the body going. It's not for everyone granted, but works really well for me.

 

[MikeTheNative]

Well i've proper done my knee playing rugby Saturday, so frustrating as progress has been really good so far this year.
I've got a physio appointment Thursday and just hope that it's not serious enough to require surgery.

 

[Somnambulist]

Got the job. 6 more workouts in Pure Gym then I can cancel my membership and it'll be MuscleWorks only although it may have to be peak-time evening workouts while I'm in training (then once I can use the flexi-time to start at 7am I can finish early afternoon and train before the masses).

Good riddance!

 

[Martynt74]

Well i can confidently say i understand why my rack has spotter arms

I had previously removed them as i found they got in my way during bench press. I assume because my flat bench is fairly low and so the bar would hit the spotter arms during the rep. I took them off as was only doing fairly light. However after the posts from @Syla5 i've moved up to ~55kg. Was fine last week, but then last night i tried to get the bar right down to my chest on the last rep and just couldn't get it back up again! Luckily there is space to push it off to the side and it wasn't crazy heavy but could've been push worse.

I think in reality i need to be stopping ~2-3 inches above the chest. From doing some reading, being tall with long arms that's the best option as doing the full range puts your arms into too much of a negative and can cause shoulder injury anyway.

Syla5 will also be pleased to hear i'm now spending around 60 minutes per workout and focusing on ~6 exercises per session. With 3 compound based exercises and then finished with a few KOT inclusions

Current plan

Workout 1
Squat
Bent Over Row
OH Press
Jefferson Curl
Reverse squat with band
Hamstring curl

Workout 2
Deadlift
Standing Calf Raise
Patrick Step
Seated Good Morning
Side Bend (Dumbell)
Wrist Curl

Workout 3

ATG squat
Bench Press
Bicep Curl
Tib Raise
Hip Flexor Raise
Lateral Raise

Some of those i alternate. For example the Bicep Curl/Tib Raise and the Side Bend/Wrist Curl. My theory is that they're different muscle groups, and so rather than resting doing nothing i can be doing another exercise for recovery.


From a tracking point of view

Deadlift - 65kg - Certainly feels i can go heavier, but want to nail form a bit first as it's a while since i've done it)
Bench - 55kg - Weight feels right assuming i don't lower the bar too far!
Squat - 50kg - Again can go heavier. It's just i didn't have the 20kg plates available last week to use them and 50kg was the most weight i had available. Next session will give a better insight.
OH Press - 35kg - Feels right

 

[Syla5]

Nice to see you making an effort there. Wrist curls though?

 

[Martynt74]

They not worthwhile?

I broke my wrist years ago and it always feels week. I thought they were good for that.

Ideally I’d get one of those plate loaded wrist rollers but I thought this’d suffice for now.

 

[Somnambulist]

They’ve been good for my golfers elbow tbh. I have a £15 climbers wrist roller I got off Amazon; thick wooden dowel with a rope and carabiner. Can plate load or clip to a cable stack. Much better than using dumbbells. Usually just do a couple of Myo Rep sets at the end of a pull day, creates a vicious pump.

 

[Syla5]

personally I would rather throw in a more useful use of the time on say a core exercise, rather than wrist curls that are super specific!

The workouts look good, some tweaks to the ordering just to keep all the bigger stuff to the start and taper to the more assistance focus stuff at the end that way you aren't wasting energy on the assistance and leaving yourself unable to push those compounds as much.

Workout 1 is decent

Workout 2 i would swap the seated good mornings around with the standing calf raises, also swap in a core exercise for the wrist curls.

workout 3 put the curls last.