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

[Makunouchi]

Those are 14 oz gloves which I use for sparring in the gym and general bag work/punching drills, I think the gloves you use for proper bouts are 16 oz, but I could easily be wrong, I've trained with that weight anyway so it won't be much of a difference.
Our club has shorts + vest with our design and logo on, which I've yet to purchase, but hopefully I'll have them in time for my bout. I'll put some pics up when I get them

 

[BennyC]

Thought I'd change my full body split 3 times a week up a bit today. To a lower today and upper tomorrow, then resume as normal.

Squatting 3 times a week I've actually really been enjoying. Albeit only 100KG x 8 x 3 followed by a few other leg exercises as I'll have worked chest and back already and still have shoulders to do.

Thought I'd give them a hammering today, sucks squatting on a smith due to no there being no powercage or squat rack! All were nice and low below parralell.

Bar x 6
60KG x 6
100KG x 8
100KG x 8
100KG x 8
100KG x 8
60KG x 20
60KG x 20
60KG x 20

Followed by some curls, extension both of which were agony! Some adduction and calf raise. Haven't trained just one group in 4 months, made a nice change even if I did have a headache and feel sick

Not the most impressive leg work out for me, but best I've had in a while!

 

[Jonny L]

Thought I'd change my full body split 3 times a week up a bit today. To a lower today and upper tomorrow, then resume as normal.

Squatting 3 times a week I've actually really been enjoying. Albeit only 100KG x 8 x 3 followed by a few other leg exercises as I'll have worked chest and back already and still have shoulders to do.

Thought I'd give them a hammering today, sucks squatting on a smith due to no there being no powercage or squat rack! All were nice and low below parralell.

Bar x 6
60KG x 6
100KG x 8
100KG x 8
100KG x 8
100KG x 8
60KG x 20
60KG x 20
60KG x 20

Followed by some curls, extension both of which were agony! Some adduction and calf raise. Haven't trained just one group in 4 months, made a nice change even if I did have a headache and feel sick

Not the most impressive leg work out for me, but best I've had in a while!

Nice work mate. I was on that very smith yesterday and was only Squatting 30, trying to get used to it. My mate has only just started going to the gym again since before summer and I didn't like the idea of doing it on my own so was leg pressing. When I was in my garage during the summer I was split squatting about 35kg on a good day and for full squats managed to get sets of 60kg or so out on the odd occasion I had a spotter (I have pretty weak legs ) but it seems so much harder on the smith for some reason.

One thing I am liking about being back in the uni gym is that I can get out 12 good parallel grip chinups thanks to being able to cheat a bit and take 12 kg off of my body weight with dipping station, hopefully this will diminish into a full set of 12 unassisted relatively soon. On a side note, in case anyone was wondering the reason I do these and not wide grip pullups at the moment is because they seem to hit my lats better, perhaps it's because I'm not overly broad in stature. I do intend to move on to wide grip pullups once I get bigger though .

And on a tangent , has anyone got any good recipes for chicken? I'm having it plain with brown rice and mixed veg at the moment and it gets a bit old...

 

[Makunouchi]

And on a tangent , has anyone got any good recipes for chicken? I'm having it plain with brown rice and mixed veg at the moment and it gets a bit old...

Mix up some Chilli Powder, grated Garlic, Cumin, Tumeric and Coriander together with some Olive Oil and then rub that into the chicken, leave it for a couple of hours in the fridge before pan frying it. You can also do a similar mix but with sun dried Tomato paste instead of the Chilli Powder, and add some black Pepper.

 

[Jonny L]

Mix up some Chilli Powder, grated Garlic, Cumin, Tumeric and Coriander together with some Olive Oil and then rub that into the chicken, leave it for a couple of hours in the fridge before pan frying it. You can also do a similar mix but with sun dried Tomato paste instead of the Chilli Powder, and add some black Pepper.

That sounds tasty, cheers mate will give that a go for dinner tomorow.

 

[BennyC]

Jonny L - If you see me about in there next time you're in there come and introduce yourself, mention OCUK so im not totally like eh and I'll check your positioning. Squatting on a smith is different to freeweights as the rails lean slightly back.

 

[Freefaller]

Argh! First session back after holiday - feel weeeeaaaak. Didnt' lose size though obviously some water rentention and a bit of BF has gone, but damn if yesterday's session wasn't hard?!

Muscle memory will kick in soon enough, but I struggled to push 100kg for 6 on my 6th set on BB bench! Considering I was back up to pushing 140kg before my hols!

Bah anyway, it'll take a couple of weeks to get back into it, just going to do full body splits until November where I'm going to hit a 5x5 routine until Christmas, then in the NY hitting AGVT again (it'll have been 4 months) but I will stack some Will-made supps during the process as I felt very burnt out after it and struggled mentally with it at times. It'll be on the lines of Creatine/OKG/EEA/D Ribose/Beta Alanine/Caffeine (I'll have a cup of coffee)/Simple carb (i.e. banana) pre and post will be Creatine/OKG/EEA, some protein and carbs, I'll blend it myself and whilst I am very anti supps (I have tried them all bar the naughty ones) I will admit that on an intense program like AGVT I'm going to need it - my diet it spot on and will also be addressed to add extra nutrition, but for the mental and physical exersion that this program does I'm going to need that extra bit of help.

I can't wait! Only problem is I get water retention from creatine - but this isn't a bad thing as it helps to lubricate joints.

After AGVT in Jan, I'll go back to a full body split/high volume training followed by strength training and cycle etc... It seems to be working well for me.

 

[Jonny L]

Cheers Benny will do, that would be a great help

@ Benny and FF what does your typical full body workout look like? If you wouldn't mind posting up some details. I have been doing them for the last couple of weeks because I have started training for the sport relief (6) mile in march and so can only really do weights 3 times a week.

At the moment I do one exercise per body part and do 1 warmup set and 2 working sets. I rotate the exercises for instance monday I'll do db bench press and then wednesday would be dips and friday incline db bench press. I use mainly compounds allthough the last couple of sessions I have thrown in some iso work because it felt like my fore arms especially were suffering without it. Does this sound about right?

Cheers guys.

 

[BennyC]

An example of one of my full-body splits. All negatives are 4 seconds or as slow as I can manage.

Back:

8x3 Widegrip chins
8x3 Chinups/Hammer grip chins
8x3 B.O.R or Underhand grip B.O.R usually adding more weight each set.

Chest:

8x3 BB Bench, increase weight each set
8x3 DB Incline Press, increase weight each set
3x failure wide grip drips
8x3 Pec-Dec

Legs:
8x3 Back Squats
8x3 Deadlifts
8x3 Leg Ext.
8x3 Leg Curls
8x3 Adduction
8x3 Calf Raise

Shoulders:

8x3 Standing Military press. Sometimes I'll do more sets. Increase in weight each set.
8x3 HC to MP.
8x3 Single arm side raises

Might finish with some core work or Skull Crushers or Diamond Pressups or whatever else I fancy.
I've usually been there a long time and am quite tired so don't do much after shoulders except get my shake down me and head home for a meal.

I think that might be too much stuff, but seems to be working for me.

I'll alternate things like BB rows for DB rows, DB and BB presses etc as often as I can.

 

[Jonny L]

Cheers for that mate. That looks really comprehensive, the one thing that would worry me about myself taking something like that on is that I'm no where near as advanced as you and perhaps that would be too much volume per week for me to handle?

Equally I am worried that I am not using enough volume at the minute. I tried to roughly base my workouts around HST principles, spreading 6 to 9 sets per body part throughout the week. I do get a good intensity during the workouts and I do get doms the next day or so (although they are not quite like the doms you get after a good session on one body part), but perhaps I could be doing more.

I think I might try and mix it up and chuck in another compound per bodypart and see how I go. I do find myself missing doing a lot of compounds per one body part in a session, thats purely more of a mental thing though, I just love them. Shoulders sessions were the best, HC and Press and upright rows and mp with some rear delt rows too. Loved all that.

Thanks for all the help Benny, I've got a workout tonight so I'll see how I go.

 

[Freefaller]

My full body routine goes something like this (all 3x8 or 4x6 depending on the day)

Routine 1:

Powercleans
Back squats
Wide grip chins
Flat BB bench
Tricep pull down
21s

Routine 2:

HC2PP
Front Squats
Incline DB bench
BORs
Dips
EZ Bar Curls

Routine 3:

Deadlifts
Leg Press
T-Bar Rows
Flat DB Press
Skull Crushers
Zottman Curls

And repeat - 1 break in between them. I often add supersets to some of the exercises, e.g. flies for chest, lat pull downs with t-bars, side raises with HC2PP, etc....

 

[dun]

Argh! First session back after holiday - feel weeeeaaaak. Didnt' lose size though obviously some water rentention and a bit of BF has gone, but damn if yesterday's session wasn't hard?!

Muscle memory will kick in soon enough, but I struggled to push 100kg for 6 on my 6th set on BB bench! Considering I was back up to pushing 140kg before my hols!

Bah anyway, it'll take a couple of weeks to get back into it, just going to do full body splits until November where I'm going to hit a 5x5 routine until Christmas, then in the NY hitting AGVT again (it'll have been 4 months) but I will stack some Will-made supps during the process as I felt very burnt out after it and struggled mentally with it at times. It'll be on the lines of Creatine/OKG/EEA/D Ribose/Beta Alanine/Caffeine (I'll have a cup of coffee)/Simple carb (i.e. banana) pre and post will be Creatine/OKG/EEA, some protein and carbs, I'll blend it myself and whilst I am very anti supps (I have tried them all bar the naughty ones) I will admit that on an intense program like AGVT I'm going to need it - my diet it spot on and will also be addressed to add extra nutrition, but for the mental and physical exersion that this program does I'm going to need that extra bit of help.

I can't wait! Only problem is I get water retention from creatine - but this isn't a bad thing as it helps to lubricate joints.

After AGVT in Jan, I'll go back to a full body split/high volume training followed by strength training and cycle etc... It seems to be working well for me.

Terrible isn't it. Imagine how I felt with my shoulder. Everyone's like "whats up with the girls weights" haha. Will-made supps Don't worry about the water from creatine though mate, it drops off pretty fast when you come off. For me I only really gained water the first time I tried it, since then hardly any, but I don't usually have long off compared to months and months on. This time however I'm nearly at the end of having roughly 6 weeks off then see if there is any difference.

An example of one of my full-body splits. All negatives are 4 seconds or as slow as I can manage.

Back:

8x3 Widegrip chins
8x3 Chinups/Hammer grip chins
8x3 B.O.R or Underhand grip B.O.R usually adding more weight each set.

Chest:

8x3 BB Bench, increase weight each set
8x3 DB Incline Press, increase weight each set
3x failure wide grip drips
8x3 Pec-Dec

Legs:
8x3 Back Squats
8x3 Deadlifts
8x3 Leg Ext.
8x3 Leg Curls
8x3 Adduction
8x3 Calf Raise

Shoulders:

8x3 Standing Military press. Sometimes I'll do more sets. Increase in weight each set.
8x3 HC to MP.
8x3 Single arm side raises

Might finish with some core work or Skull Crushers or Diamond Pressups or whatever else I fancy.
I've usually been there a long time and am quite tired so don't do much after shoulders except get my shake down me and head home for a meal.

I think that might be too much stuff, but seems to be working for me.

I'll alternate things like BB rows for DB rows, DB and BB presses etc as often as I can.

When you say full body do you mean you do that in 1 workout mate?

 

[Participant]

I'll check your positioning. Squatting on a smith is different to freeweights as the rails lean slightly back.

Can you explain that please? Last night there was a girl squatting on a smith machine and her feet were well in front of the bar so that at the bottom of the rep, she looked like she was sitting down, with the thighs at 90 degrees to the calves and the bar directly above the back, which was vertical throughout.

Is that proper smith squat form?

 

[Lead_Head]

I've been hitting the gym quite well at the moment however it's been a while since I've done high volume / low weights so I decided to join my mate at a 'body pump' class (no laughing) on Monday.

My word... what a workout. My legs are shot to pieces and severely ache. I've been before and I can now remember the pain I felt the 1st time. I'm going to keep going as I think it'll benefit my low volume / high weight workout throughout the week and it's also a bit of cardio for me.

 

[BennyC]

When you say full body do you mean you do that in 1 workout mate?

Yeah, after doing GVT I think I'm hooked on doing too much. It needs re-working as a lot of those exercises could be cut down. Like adding in clean and press to combine legs and shoulders.

Can you explain that please? Last night there was a girl squatting on a smith machine and her feet were well in front of the bar so that at the bottom of the rep, she looked like she was sitting down, with the thighs at 90 degrees to the calves and the bar directly above the back, which was vertical throughout.

Is that proper smith squat form?

I genuinley don't know. I've never felt comfortable squatting on a smith. I've had instructors tell me to have my feet foward like you suggested and I've felt it hit the quads a lot more. However If you did that with an olympic bar freeweights, you'd be on your arse before you got half way down.

I have my feet fairly far foward but try to simulate freeweight form as much as possible.

 

[dun]

Can you explain that please? Last night there was a girl squatting on a smith machine and her feet were well in front of the bar so that at the bottom of the rep, she looked like she was sitting down, with the thighs at 90 degrees to the calves and the bar directly above the back, which was vertical throughout.

Is that proper smith squat form?

I don't squat on the smith. But if I was forced to then I'd do it very similar to how you described. Really unless there isn't a squat rack/ no hack machine why bother?

I've been hitting the gym quite well at the moment however it's been a while since I've done high volume / low weights so I decided to join my mate at a 'body pump' class (no laughing) on Monday.

My word... what a workout. My legs are shot to pieces and severely ache. I've been before and I can now remember the pain I felt the 1st time. I'm going to keep going as I think it'll benefit my low volume / high weight workout throughout the week and it's also a bit of cardio for me.

I know a chap who did one of those body pump classes and he said it was a good cardio workout. But the weights sounded so low and such high rep I wouldn't advise doing it often if your goal is mass building.

Yeah, after doing GVT I think I'm hooked on doing too much. It needs re-working as a lot of those exercises could be cut down. Like adding in clean and press to combine legs and shoulders.



I genuinley don't know. I've never felt comfortable squatting on a smith. I've had instructors tell me to have my feet foward like you suggested and I've felt it hit the quads a lot more. However If you did that with an olympic bar freeweights, you'd be on your arse before you got half way down.

I have my feet fairly far foward but try to simulate freeweight form as much as possible.

Don't worry if it sounds too much, what are the results like that's all that matters isn't it.
And I agree pretty much with the last part about the smith.

 

[BennyC]

Don't worry if it sounds too much, what are the results like that's all that matters isn't it.
And I agree pretty much with the last part about the smith.

Aye.

I've not gotten any smaller from it. I get a good pump on from it too. I think the less more often approach, even though I don't feel bigger, is working.

It's strange since GVT I've found Incline presses with DB's more comfortable and easier than flat presses with DB's.

 

[Lead_Head]

I know a chap who did one of those body pump classes and he said it was a good cardio workout. But the weights sounded so low and such high rep I wouldn't advise doing it often if your goal is mass building.

I'm hoping it will help me push through my PB's as I've been stuck with them for a while. It'll exercise different fibres in my muscles differently. They also do extremely slow negatives and I can add / remove the weight as I see fit.

Recommend it to anyone to give it a bash, you'd be surprised. The added bonus of a fitty squatting in front of you is great too.

 

[dun]

Glad you are enjoying it mate. Like I say I haven't done it myself so can't really comment. I can't see how a fitty squating in front of you is anything less than super distracting though, and lack of blood in the muscles can't be good for growth

 

[^TANK^]

I'm feeling a lot better today, may attempt my arm day routine later.