Poll: ***The all new gymrats thread***

[Pigeon_Killer]

Feels wrong not training heavy deads though! I'd rather ease up on the squats...

Squats have more carry over than deadlifts so it would be better to ease up on deadlifts imo. Maybe go heavy once every two weeks?

 

[Johnny Girth]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've never used a belt before - is it for support?

To be honest I'm fairly superficial and I'm more interested in gaining a bit of size than out and out strength training.

Although having said that, deadlifts don't work anything directly as obvious as say chest/shoulder/arms so if it's feasible to train everything else for size and deadlifts for power then I'd go for this.

 

[Morba]

yeah for support. you are trying to go for a maximum lift, safety (especially for your back) should be your first thought imo :]


deads target everything! so so so good for you

 

[PAz]

Squats have more carry over than deadlifts so it would be better to ease up on deadlifts imo. Maybe go heavy once every two weeks?

I agree with this. Both exercises are fantastic, but if you're going deep enough I don't think anything can hammer you like a heavy squat session can.

 

[-Ad-]

Just to check, are you using a mixed grip?

Errrrrrrmmm.........What's that

Honestly I'm still picking up teh lingo and techniques, have only been at it 2 months so am still quite a noobie.

edit:

Typically, there are two grips used: overhand, or pronated, and a mixed overhand-underhand (supinated) (sometimes called "offset," "staggered," "alternating", or "mixed") grip. Dependent on forearm strength, the overhand grip may result in the bar potentially rolling about. Some argue the mixed grip is capable of neutralizing this through the "physics of reverse torsion." The mixed grip also allows more weight to be used for this reason.

Mmm torsion.. Nice

 

[AmDaMan]

Some bloke at the gym said a belt isn't mainly for back support but compressing your core to include it more in big compound exercises.. is he talking nonsense?

 

[Dj_Jestar]

Lumbar belts are for your abs to push against so that you even out the pressure at the front of your spine.

See here for a lengthy explanation.

 

[megatron]

Lumbar belts are for your abs to push against so that you even out the pressure at the front of your spine.

See here for a lengthy explanation.

Interesting, I knew there must be benifits to lifting as naturally as possible.

 

[Dj_Jestar]

Yeah.. I bought one, used it twice, then left it at home from then on

 

[dun]

For standing shoulder presses and certain heavy back work then I wear one now. Feels much more secure imo.

 

[Cristian]

will defiiately agree about the shoulder press, but for back I would only wear it when attempting PBs. And for heavy squats.

But it is disturbing to see people wearing belts when curling or even benching.

 

[Freefaller]

Never worn a belt. I have no need to unless I strt pushing myself beyond my max which I can't do anyway typically your core strength should be able to handle it however in things like strong man events you don't have the convenience of stable even bars or even weight so it becomes more important.

 

[toxic]

Ive started doing a new exercise in my chest/shoulder workout..power cleans. Only done it a couple of times now....but it feels quite beneficial...and is very hard work when douing mutiple sets. I know you do it FF and might be able to answer my questions...I bascally did the following

40Kg x 10
50kg x 10
60kg x 8
65kg x 5
65Kg x 4 (body shattered by this stage)

I know the weight isnt much but it was completely knocking me for six on the last two sets. It made my legs and upper body very tired. I had already done 8 sets of flat bench and 4 sets each of chins and lat raises.
So the questions about this is....is it best to keep wieght light and try and do say 10 reps or so....or try going heavier and doing 4-5 reps. And is it an exercise thats you should do at the start of a session to get the best benefits from? Is doing it within a shoulder/chest routine OK? Cheers

 

[Buffman]

Went to the gym today for my chest workout and managed 28kg dumbbell press for 6 reps and incline dumbbell press 22kg for 6 comfortable reps .

 

[Jonny L]

Went to the gym today for my chest workout and managed 28kg dumbbell press for 6 reps and incline dumbbell press 22kg for 6 comfortable reps .

Nice one mate, what sort of improvement is that from when you first started?

I was pretty happy today, I tried pyramiding my chest workout and it felt really good.

On bench press I did a few warm up sets and then got stuck in:

15 x 40kg
12 x 45kg
10 x 47.5kg
8 x 50kg (proud of this because only managed 6 reps at this weight before now)

then moved onto incline:

15 x 37.5kg
12 x 40kg
10 x 42.5kg
5 x 45kg (couldn't get those last 3 out )

After this I did some BW dips 3x8

All in all felt good, my wrists felt pretty well shot from about half way through the incline sets though. I do all the big compound lifts and am normally fine, my grip holds out I just think I have relatively poor wrist strength compared to the rest of me.

I was thinking about doing some wrist curls but I don't want to over train them, so maybe some straps to use on the heavier lifts?

 

[Freefaller]

Ive started doing a new exercise in my chest/shoulder workout..power cleans. Only done it a couple of times now....but it feels quite beneficial...and is very hard work when douing mutiple sets. I know you do it FF and might be able to answer my questions...I bascally did the following

40Kg x 10
50kg x 10
60kg x 8
65kg x 5
65Kg x 4 (body shattered by this stage)

I know the weight isnt much but it was completely knocking me for six on the last two sets. It made my legs and upper body very tired. I had already done 8 sets of flat bench and 4 sets each of chins and lat raises.
So the questions about this is....is it best to keep wieght light and try and do say 10 reps or so....or try going heavier and doing 4-5 reps. And is it an exercise thats you should do at the start of a session to get the best benefits from? Is doing it within a shoulder/chest routine OK? Cheers

With powercleans it's best to keep the reps lower, but the form strict and the weights lower too.

Form / technique is 90% of the lift in powercleans, hence why you get tiiiiny women lifting double to triple their bodyweight - it's down to power, timing and technique.

However, those are powerlifting "cleans" - power cleans rely less on a deep bend in the knee to catch the bar and front squat it up and rely on explosive take off from the floor, and strong flexing of the traps and shoulder to rotate the bar as it becomes stationary, and a slight bend at the same time to grab the bar to push it up the last foot.

I tend to do a maximum of 6 reps no matter what the weight is and concentrate on absolute form. If I'm going for PBs my clean technique aims towards a powerclean rather than a clean - i.e. use raw strength.

However I tend to hit around 5 sets min as I get a good burn from that amount.

Typically I start off with:

60x6
70x6
80x6
90x4~6
100x2~4
Then either attempt more 100s, or go up to 105-110 etc....
I may do a dropset back to 60 with exact form.

Form is more important than weight on this exercise - if you do it properly even 40kg will feel like you've been massaged by an elephant.

 

[toxic]

cheers for that. I think then Id burnt myself out with the high reps to start with. when I got to 60Kg+...allthough it didnt feel heavy...i felt exhausted after a few reps and struggled at 65 to do 5. I think then it would be beter to keep the reps lower at the start and push for more weight in later sets. Ill give that a try next time. Good exercise though!

 

[BennyC]

I find Powercleans very tiring too but very enjoyable. I think I'll know when my timing & technique is perfect as it'll feel 'right' you can tell when you've miss timed or used bad form.

 

[Steedie]

Chest and Tris workout today

On a cut, I'm very glad to see I'm not losing any strength. I'm still upping my weights. Managed 27.5kg dumbbells for chest pressing today for 5 sets of 10. Felt great after, chest felt like it was going to explode.

My tricep exercises also saw small increases too. I guess this is mainly due to me trying that extra bit harder to make sure I don't lose too much mass or strength. And so far, all seems good

Lost 8lbs in 2 weeks, although about 5-6lbs of that is the water weight from reducing carbs lol

 

[Buffman]

Nice one mate, what sort of improvement is that from when you first started?

Think I first started properly going at the weights around 4-5 months ago at ~14-16kg for a normal press not sure about inclines. My bench has been steadily going up around 2kg (per dumbbell) a month for the last two months so good progress IMO , although they only go up to 30 in my gym so I'll have to wait till I start uni to up it even further/ try barbell pressing.
Nice one for making progress yourself