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

[Buffman]

Good stuff.

Leg workouts don't need to be heavy I had some of the most agonising workouts with 60KG squats. High rep sets 20 +, gave me the biggest pump in my quads ever. So much so that I had to lower myself down from the bar and sit there for about 5 minutes before attempting to stand

I never really get pumps apart from in my forearms / calves dont really know if thats related to my intensity/training (although I do struggle walking from machine to machine during leg work ). Also managed to leg press 200kg for 8 reps again this week (Thats the stack on the machine).
I think after a few weeks of strength/size building and seeing how my timetable fits in I might start timing my rest periods and keeping them strictly to 1 minute or less.

 

[neon.uk]

Gah, first rugby match of the season today, got concussed 10 minutes into the game. Can't even remember what happened, I have a 10 minute memory gap. I have a very nice black and blue eye though . That's me out for a while then

 

[4Qman]

Thanks mate, was thinking that. Yeh I'm relatively slim, put on some fat over the summer because I just ate all that I saw haha. Deffinitely couldn't be classed as overweight though. Theres some pics of me floating around from the strongman meet. I'm a little bit bigger since then maybe 2 or 3 lean lbs and a bit of fat but not much.

I think I'm going to have to have 2 shakes a day to keep the protein high because I'm on a student budget But I have managed to fit in chicken, steak and tuna. Along with nuts and beans .

On the carb end of things it will be mostly oats, brown rice and wholegrain bread (would have prefered to swap the bread for brown pasta but for some reason I can't stand the stuff ).

Fats will come from peanut butter, light mayo, nuts and meat etc.

Hopefully this should set me on my way to hitting 12.5 to 13 stone by next summer.

Carb source is spot on as you have said, get some sweet potatoes in there also. Fats are best to come from such sources as these EFA's
Walnut oil
Almond oil
Pecan oil
Macadamia nut oil
Olive oil
avacado oil
Fish oil

USe natural peanut butter, on a budget i would maximise the cheap tuna deals, i have 3 tins per day. Eggs are cheap and oats brown rice and the rest is not too bad. My biggest cost is chicken breast but icelands do some deals on them at a ok price.

Good luck dude, if you train hard your make the weight you want to reach. Cardio first thing before food is best to drop fat and after your weights workout for max 30minutes. Be sure to have protein shake within 45minutes after gym "ASAP is best" and then a meal 30minutes after that.

There are lots and lots of tips and eating recommendations, i wish u good luck.

 

[Jonny L]

Carb source is spot on as you have said, get some sweet potatoes in there also. Fats are best to come from such sources as these EFA's
Walnut oil
Almond oil
Pecan oil
Macadamia nut oil
Olive oil
avacado oil
Fish oil

USe natural peanut butter, on a budget i would maximise the cheap tuna deals, i have 3 tins per day. Eggs are cheap and oats brown rice and the rest is not too bad. My biggest cost is chicken breast but icelands do some deals on them at a ok price.

Good luck dude, if you train hard your make the weight you want to reach. Cardio first thing before food is best to drop fat and after your weights workout for max 30minutes. Be sure to have protein shake within 45minutes after gym "ASAP is best" and then a meal 30minutes after that.

There are lots and lots of tips and eating recommendations, i wish u good luck.

Thanks mate, I might pick up a good quality oil then. I forgot to mention I'll be using fish oil caps and multi vitamins too.

Cheers for all the advice.

 

[dun]

I've been stuck at this 86kg for quite a while now so today decided to give that daily burn a go. Really good site actually, very good. Anyway turns out I'm eating more calories than I suspected but not quite as high protein and MUCH higher fat.
Here Fridays breakdown which is pretty standard for a weekday:


3792 Calories
163.73g of Fat
196.61g of Protein
361.13g of Carbs

I have 1 more week left of this heavy weight low rep malarky then pretty sure I'm going to have my first weeks break since I started and more than 2 days off for over a year. Eating wise I'm going to increase the protein by about 75g mainly from 2 more shakes (normally have just 1 post workout) and a few more eggs.

 

[rainbow6six]

Gah, first rugby match of the season today, got concussed 10 minutes into the game. Can't even remember what happened, I have a 10 minute memory gap. I have a very nice black and blue eye though . That's me out for a while then

That is bad luck! Hope you get back to full fitness soon mate!

 

[Jonny L]

I've been stuck at this 86kg for quite a while now so today decided to give that daily burn a go. Really good site actually, very good. Anyway turns out I'm eating more calories than I suspected but not quite as high protein and MUCH higher fat.
Here Fridays breakdown which is pretty standard for a weekday:


3792 Calories
163.73g of Fat
196.61g of Protein
361.13g of Carbs

I have 1 more week left of this heavy weight low rep malarky then pretty sure I'm going to have my first weeks break since I started and more than 2 days off for over a year. Eating wise I'm going to increase the protein by about 75g mainly from 2 more shakes (normally have just 1 post workout) and a few more eggs.

I know what you mean dun, really made me realise how few calories I was actually eating, even though I ate tons of stuff over the summer, what I ate wasn't very calorific and probably had the wrong macro proportions.

 

[4Qman]

I've been stuck at this 86kg for quite a while now so today decided to give that daily burn a go. Really good site actually, very good. Anyway turns out I'm eating more calories than I suspected but not quite as high protein and MUCH higher fat.
Here Fridays breakdown which is pretty standard for a weekday:


3792 Calories
163.73g of Fat
196.61g of Protein
361.13g of Carbs

I have 1 more week left of this heavy weight low rep malarky then pretty sure I'm going to have my first weeks break since I started and more than 2 days off for over a year. Eating wise I'm going to increase the protein by about 75g mainly from 2 more shakes (normally have just 1 post workout) and a few more eggs.

Hi there, thats a lot of fats. 2 days off in a year is not good. This could be the cause of your weight not improving, maybe your overtraining?

Not sure you your stats but id most defiantly up the protein to around 350 and lower the fat. Id keep the shake to 1 per day and add more food instead of the 2 extra shakes.

 

[Steedie]

Ugh, heavy weekend with alcohol this week. First time I've been drunk in months

Stupid bodybuilding, I feel so guilty for drinking now as it's bad So I dragged myself out on a run this morning to ease the guilt

 

[dun]

I know what you mean dun, really made me realise how few calories I was actually eating, even though I ate tons of stuff over the summer, what I ate wasn't very calorific and probably had the wrong macro proportions.

Yep eat eat eat all day every day :/

Hi there, thats a lot of fats. 2 days off in a year is not good. This could be the cause of your weight not improving, maybe your overtraining?

Not sure you your stats but id most defiantly up the protein to around 350 and lower the fat. Id keep the shake to 1 per day and add more food instead of the 2 extra shakes.

Yes mate its a lot of fat, but the vast majority has been added in the last few months to try and push past this weight which is really sticking. I can't really up another 150g protein from real meals but like I say I'm going to hammer the shakes for another 60g and see how much more I can eat normal.
I train hard 5 days a week and have done since I started, but I don't train at all over the weekend and don't do any cardio. I've said it before that I think overtraining is a term that is thrown around far too freely, but we'll see when I have a week off

 

[NitrogenY3K]

I've been stuck at this 86kg for quite a while now so today decided to give that daily burn a go. Really good site actually, very good. Anyway turns out I'm eating more calories than I suspected but not quite as high protein and MUCH higher fat.
Here Fridays breakdown which is pretty standard for a weekday:


3792 Calories
163.73g of Fat
196.61g of Protein
361.13g of Carbs

I have 1 more week left of this heavy weight low rep malarky then pretty sure I'm going to have my first weeks break since I started and more than 2 days off for over a year. Eating wise I'm going to increase the protein by about 75g mainly from 2 more shakes (normally have just 1 post workout) and a few more eggs.

Try the liquid egg whites from My Protein, very conviniant and easy to drink, you could add a bottle a day to your diet (which is somethig like 34eggs).

 

[Buffman]

Ugh, heavy weekend with alcohol this week. First time I've been drunk in months

Stupid bodybuilding, I feel so guilty for drinking now as it's bad So I dragged myself out on a run this morning to ease the guilt

Kinda know what you mean, though I wouldn't be dragging myself out for a run after a night on the sauce . I'm going to be drinking a fair bit over this week as its freshers week too .

Went to the gym today for my chest rather than tommorow as I'll be busy at uni events, managed a PB of 75kg bench press on smith for 6 reps (impressed with this as I never tend to train on smith) and 26kg incline dumbbell press (I think this could easily go up to 28, its damned hard to get them onto my chest from an incline though ).

I'm also suffering from a tricep injury from friday after hyperextending (I think its called that) my arms doing skull crushers and got a painful click in my right arm, think I've flaired it up a bit after doing chest work today , got a good few days off this week though as I'll be busy drinking/ registering at uni.

First thing I think I'll be doing when I join my uni gym is some reverse curls and barbell bench presses/deadlifts/squats, never used a free bar so should be interesting.

 

[Disco Boy]

I've noticed that quite a few of you guys front squat as well as back squatting, why is this? Does anyone front squat instead of back squatting? If so why?

I guess I'm asking what the advantages of front squatting are? What does front squatting target that back squatting doesn't, and visa versa.

I'm thinking of front squatting rather than back squatting because I've read that it targets your quads more, and I'm a cyclist. Also I've read that it helps develop abs more than back squats and, being 19, I am vain. Would I be missing out any important muscle groups for general development by only front squatting?

 

[BennyC]

26kg incline dumbbell press (I think this could easily go up to 28, its damned hard to get them onto my chest from an incline though ).

A tip for you to try.

Place the dumbells on the floor infront of you and the bench. Bend down and effectively deadlift them up off the floor so you are now standing with them in either hand(keep your back straight). It should be very easy to bring them together so they are infront of your knees. Then sit down onto the bench behind with you with the dumbells now on your knees. One by one kick your knee upto your shoulder leaning back as you do. Dumbells should be on your shoulders ready to press

I sometimes see people boosting one of the DB's up, and holding it locked out at full extension, while they then wait to be handed the other. I'm not a fan of this and unless you are pressing exceptionally heavy think that if you can't boost them up yourself then you probaly should be using such a heavy weight.

Well done on the PB's though.

 

[4Qman]

Yep eat eat eat all day every day :/

Yes mate its a lot of fat, but the vast majority has been added in the last few months to try and push past this weight which is really sticking. I can't really up another 150g protein from real meals but like I say I'm going to hammer the shakes for another 60g and see how much more I can eat normal.
I train hard 5 days a week and have done since I started, but I don't train at all over the weekend and don't do any cardio. I've said it before that I think overtraining is a term that is thrown around far too freely, but we'll see when I have a week off

Not sure how often people comment on over training here but it is easy to over train and there is lots of knowledge to back it up, again this depends on what actual training people doing to state this. But for Body building there can be a fine line when it comes to over training especially if diet is of concern.

Whats your stats dude, age/height/bf% and what food your eating.

 

[Buffman]

I sometimes see people boosting one of the DB's up, and holding it locked out at full extension, while they then wait to be handed the other. I'm not a fan of this and unless you are pressing exceptionally heavy think that if you can't boost them up yourself then you probaly should be using such a heavy weight.

Well done on the PB's though.

I'm alright with getting them onto my knees, just lacking in practice at kicking them onto my shoulders. For one of my sets I just grabbed them and swung back onto the bench =/ prob. not the best of ideas .

 

[Morba]

A tip for you to try.

Place the dumbells on the floor infront of you and the bench. Bend down and effectively deadlift them up off the floor so you are now standing with them in either hand(keep your back straight). It should be very easy to bring them together so they are infront of your knees. Then sit down onto the bench behind with you with the dumbells now on your knees. One by one kick your knee upto your shoulder leaning back as you do. Dumbells should be on your shoulders ready to press

get them onto your knees, lean forward so that your chest is pretty much touching them, lean back while raising your knees. lower knees. you are now at the bottom of the rep. simple.

if you can't boost them up yourself then you probaly should be using such a heavy weight.

now, that is a little silly
i can squat a lot more than i can clean and press, does that mean i should only use what i can clean and press (and lower) onto my back so that i can squat?

 

[BennyC]

now, that is a little silly
i can squat a lot more than i can clean and press, does that mean i should only use what i can clean and press (and lower) onto my back so that i can squat?

Maybe

I meant in regards to upper body presses. That's why we have squat racks and power cages.

In terms of DB shoulder and DB bench press, if you can't shift the weight from the bottom of the rep yourself, then your not going to be getting proper range of motion during your set. So would be better off with less weight and a full ROM. No?

 

[Morba]

but the exercise is about working the chest, not 'how to position yourself on your own'.

you have to remember that you dont want to go too far with ROM when db pressing, too far can cause damage.
also, why do something slightly risky when you can have someone help you?

one more thing, starting from the bottom is actually very hard, more so than lowering to the same position then pressing ;]

 

[-Ad-]

Joined the local LA fitness today as the nights are drawing in and it's soo easy to give up on bothering with a session at home outside.

Quite a big free weights area, lots of machines, only let down being the old Concept 2 model C rowers that every muppet in there seems to put on resistance 10 then fly up and down the slide doing everything with their arms

Progress updates will come in, got a few pics atm might get them up this evening as a reference