Man of Honour
I've never done anything specific for traps but mine are decently meaty, only thing I can put it down to is consistent heavy deadlifting back in the day.
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- Thread starter Somnambulist
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Looking for a little bit of advice/guidance
I (36, M) have been struggling the last few months with various ailments, most significantly some hip pain which has been initially diagnosed as bursitis. From October-Jan I was doing Stronglifts, and doing OK, before facing these issues, then running into pain in my scapula and breaking my finger 6 weeks ago due to cricket.
At the moment I'm in some sort of rehabing phase with the hip/shoulder and very short stretching sessions and the odd run, but I'd love to improve my muscle strength in my glutes in particular. Is there any kind of program right now I can do *safely* that is managable? I think in hindsight that despite it's simplicity, Stronglifts is/was just too much for me to take on, particularly with squatting 3x a week. My gym is basic but has the usual weight stuff
I (36, M) have been struggling the last few months with various ailments, most significantly some hip pain which has been initially diagnosed as bursitis. From October-Jan I was doing Stronglifts, and doing OK, before facing these issues, then running into pain in my scapula and breaking my finger 6 weeks ago due to cricket.
At the moment I'm in some sort of rehabing phase with the hip/shoulder and very short stretching sessions and the odd run, but I'd love to improve my muscle strength in my glutes in particular. Is there any kind of program right now I can do *safely* that is managable? I think in hindsight that despite it's simplicity, Stronglifts is/was just too much for me to take on, particularly with squatting 3x a week. My gym is basic but has the usual weight stuff
Squatting 3 times a week is not that much.
Squatting without being epic in a lot of ways is too much...
However, all is not lost. You can always do deficit split squats (Bulgarian or otherwise) for that sweet, sweet leg and glute burrrrrrrn...
This is the way. Haven't trained traps directly in 15 years, they've always looked decent from deadlifts. Focus on deadlift strength and they will come, too large traps makes shoulders look smaller anyway.
Soldato
We have all seen curling in the squat rack but anyone seen squatting on the deadlift platform?
Don't want to judge too much but I have no idea what the guy was doing yesterday.
And no he wasn't super setting deadlifts and squats either.
Don't want to judge too much but I have no idea what the guy was doing yesterday.
And no he wasn't super setting deadlifts and squats either.
Soldato
Haven't seen anything like that at our local, it's mostly folk draped across the stairmasters like they're asleep but their legs are still moving
Soldato
My strength has taken a massive nose dive since recovering from whatever virus I had.
Struggling for singles on weight I could triple+.
My bench is under 75% of what it was (although I'm not sure if I've injured something as my right side is massively weak at the moment).
It's been over a month since I recovered. I don't seem to have lost any size. Don't know whether it's mental but it's kind of depressing.
Struggling for singles on weight I could triple+.
My bench is under 75% of what it was (although I'm not sure if I've injured something as my right side is massively weak at the moment).
It's been over a month since I recovered. I don't seem to have lost any size. Don't know whether it's mental but it's kind of depressing.
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Man of Honour
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Squatting 3x a week? What’s your goal? That seems like a lot, especially if your trying to get other lifts in. Most of my issues came from doing bench/squats too many times in a week. You need to learn what works for you. For me it’s one huge session on each per week, especially as I’ve gotten older. As I got into my mid to late 30s I’ve found myself needing more rest days.
Just reduce the weight and build back up? And as above, focus on sleep and calories. I have plenty of phases that for no reason a lot of the time strength unexpectedly goes down, sometimes you just have to take a step back and build again, in the long run I’ve always found it’s made me stronger. You’ll probably find that you’ll build back up to your previous strength very quickly.
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Soldato
I did, spent over month building back up but haven't been able to get back to where I was.
Man of Honour
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There’s not always an obvious reason. More calories always pushes me through. I’ve just gotten to the point where more calories would involve too much more unhealthy foods, so I’ve hit a bit of a wall with some movements.
Soldato
Restarted Stronglifts around 6 weeks ago, did it for a week and then family came to visit. My routine got messed up as i used any spare time for cycling. Then they left and i didn't get back to it.
Just done a set of Squats and only an hour later my quads feel tight/sore. This can't be good. I'm only doing 40kg as i set it really low to start with! Admittedly i then threw in some split squats and lunges during the OH Press sections and did some extra deadlifts as the weight was low on that too, but still unsure what's caused this tightness!
Just done a set of Squats and only an hour later my quads feel tight/sore. This can't be good. I'm only doing 40kg as i set it really low to start with! Admittedly i then threw in some split squats and lunges during the OH Press sections and did some extra deadlifts as the weight was low on that too, but still unsure what's caused this tightness!
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Man of Honour
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Might just be a case of rest needed until the muscle gets used to training again.
Soldato
Yeah could be, although i've never had this before and i'd have thought my quads would be relatively strong from cycling ~100 miles a week!
Sounds to me like this isnt anything more concerning then post workout DOMS kicking in early. Just keep going to get back in to things. Although you dont need to do stronglifts, theres plenty of other things you can do, as you are an active cyclist, you could consider doing something like an Upper Lower Upper 3 day split so you arent over working your legs to much.
Soldato
Cheers, yeah i went with Stronglifts to keep it simple as i have a habit of overcomplicating things and then throwing in too many niche exercises to end up with a convoluted routine that i rush through in limited time. Something you've told me off for in the past 
Overworking legs is a good point though. I've historically had a very weak squat. Even when i went to the gym often ~10yrs ago, i never got squats to a point i felt it should've been (Always struggled >80kg which isn't even bodyweight!). My plans were to use Stronglifts to build strength quickly to around 60kg and then plateau and move to a more endurance rep based approach for fatigue resistance. However i think 3 workouts of the legs a week isn't ideal when also trying to quickly increase volume in cycling.
Overworking legs is a good point though. I've historically had a very weak squat. Even when i went to the gym often ~10yrs ago, i never got squats to a point i felt it should've been (Always struggled >80kg which isn't even bodyweight!). My plans were to use Stronglifts to build strength quickly to around 60kg and then plateau and move to a more endurance rep based approach for fatigue resistance. However i think 3 workouts of the legs a week isn't ideal when also trying to quickly increase volume in cycling.
Man of Honour
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First summer where training has gone well, so far. I think a mix of it generally being cooler, an air con unit in my gym and upping my calorie intake again. I’ve gone back to morning and evening shakes with whole milk and have accepted that my main meals needed to be larger, along with a second breakfast and lunch. It’ll be tricky maintaining this when I go back to work after the summer. In comparison to most previous summers, I’d be happy to even vaguely maintain my numbers by September. I’m also pushing some of my secondary movement numbers a bit more, even if I miss the odd rep here or there.
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Mmmm. Unless you're a track cyclist, your quads will not be strong I am afraid. Same with other people indulging in anything aerobic with their legs (runners, swimmers, etc.).
Man of Honour
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Fortunately I was on my final ‘lighter’ sets of 178kg squats when I walked in with a different stance to usual, missed the left J peg, thought I had it on the second attempt, let go as it then pulled me down to the side. I got off lightly due to the safety bar that caught it with just a minor bump on my head that mostly landed on the muscle at the top of my neck and a slightly sensitive shoulder.