The official gym & weightlifting thread! rep #2

[lowendmafia]

I am talking about a plateau as in not being able to increase weight. However, if you were to keep going at 3x12, you would probably gain some size and granted not much strength. What I do is keep the routine going til I hit a wall like that, then either change the rep range or substitute it with a different excersise.

It is a big problem that a lot of clients that I have trained have had. Same reps+ same weight= no gains. I get some that are really strong with no endurance and vice-versa. You sound like you know more than most people so I won't mess with you too much...

I've never tried it but I'm kinda familiar with cross fit. High rep, high intensity with plenty of explosive lifts and circuit-like training. Which is good for shape, fitness (resistance training in crossfit is great CV too) and decent size. But we are in for different goals, I'm in primarily for strength. Wanting to get into competative weightlifting. Not to mention wanting to get back into rugby next year.

Crossfit and Kettlebells FTW!!! It is aerobic and anaerobic at the same time. I am big and strong enough, it is more about making my wife jealous of the way girls look at me.

1000 cals is getting close to the threshold but it's fine. The only risk and main problem is it really slows up recovery. And my body is going to have trouble storing calories if it is burning more than it uses each day. The difference is I'm hitting the weights regularly instead of just dieting. That upregulates my bodies requirement for the muscle that is there. I'm not going to gain strength or muscle mass right now, but, it'll drastically reduce the speed that my body is trying to get rid of the muscle. As you know, the more muscle mass you have, the higher your calorific requirements are. When you go into a calorific deficite, you're body tries to become more efficient, by burning off excess muscle. If the muscle is being used, it isn't excess.

I tried to eat 1000 calories today and I almost died.

Considering my lifts have actually gone up a bit, but granted slowly, and i've dropped from 270lbs to 241lbs since february. It's working fine . Aiming to get down to the 200lbs range, tho will obviously start going by eye.

I think that when you make gains without proper nutrition, it actually has more to do with psychology than nutrition. I have seen guys bench 325 if you don't put the 3rd 45lb plate on (only 315) but when you put that third plate on they psych out.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

You aren't messing with me at all, if you keep going with something when you aren't seeing any gains in strength or size, you need to change. But that is different from changing what you are doing every other day. Tho I must say, I know plenty of bodybuilder types who are pretty large (much larger than me) and they keep hitting the same weight with the same reps. Must admit, it's a big ego booster seeing these pretty large guys and I'm outlifting them

Kettlebells are something I really want to add to my gym setup. One of the few things I wish my gym had.

Almost died? Just like your following point, it's mind over matter to a certain extent. Can feel sluggish but it's easy enough to mentally push yourself through that.

And yeah, a lot of it is mental. Thats also why people see such big gains in strength when they first start lifting, it's their body just noticing what it is able to do etc.

Tho, keeping my lifts and reps up, even getting the weight up, when my own weight is dropping, is a pretty good indicator it's working fine for me

Hoping to get my total to 300Kg+ by this time in 2011 so I can enter the scottish opens .

 

[bassman03]

Woot! Squat max up to 350 now! Only 50 more pounds to go before my goal! Now to work on being able to walk in the morning.....

 

[vene-nemesis]

Holy went for chest/biceps yesterday, rose weight in almost everything, now i can barely stay awake at classes...

HATE YOU ALL FOR MAKING ME GO PARANOIC ON RISING THE WEIGHTS!

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Woot! Squat max up to 350 now! Only 50 more pounds to go before my goal! Now to work on being able to walk in the morning.....

Probably been a bit of a psychological barrier as lowendmafia was saying.

Good stuff. Just make sure to keep your form

Had interesting functional workout today, felling trees . . .

 

[Asa Samuel]

Oh great, more core-battering stuff

 

[lowendmafia]

You aren't messing with me at all, if you keep going with something when you aren't seeing any gains in strength or size, you need to change. But that is different from changing what you are doing every other day. Tho I must say, I know plenty of bodybuilder types who are pretty large (much larger than me) and they keep hitting the same weight with the same reps. Must admit, it's a big ego booster seeing these pretty large guys and I'm outlifting them

As my buddy says "never mind the knuckle-dragging body builders" or "that guy must have a Dominican cousin" (in reference to the A-Rod scandal). Those guys are all about blood flow to muscles which doesn't necessarily translate to functional strength.

Kettlebells are something I really want to add to my gym setup. One of the few things I wish my gym had.

All you need is 1 to start, and they are pretty cheap... I recommend starting with the 16kg. I know it seems light, but it will wear you out.

Almost died? Just like your following point, it's mind over matter to a certain extent. Can feel sluggish but it's easy enough to mentally push yourself through that.

I was over dramatizing, but I definitely got a headache.

And yeah, a lot of it is mental. Thats also why people see such big gains in strength when they first start lifting, it's their body just noticing what it is able to do etc.

It is like when I finally was able to bench 4 plates (405), granted I weighed close to 240 at the time, but it was more about seeing it on the bar and psyching myself out before I even hit the bar. Once it went up the first time, it was back to gaining.

Tho, keeping my lifts and reps up, even getting the weight up, when my own weight is dropping, is a pretty good indicator it's working fine for me

As long as you are not getting hurt or pulling muscles I guess that it is cool, but swift muscle recovery is important to me.

Hoping to get my total to 300Kg+ by this time in 2011 so I can enter the scottish opens .

Is that just clean and snatch, or are other lifts involved?

 

[daystcity]

Had an awesome majority leg workout today

Squat 3x10
leg press 1 set to failure, 4 sec's up and down
lat pulls 3x10
dumbell curls 3x10
leg extensions 3x10
leg curls 3x10
sl deadlift 2x10

I got my squat to 115lbs and my sld to 135 today! I could get used to this . Sorry mohawk, wrestling coach says stiff leggers for now. Lot of ground to cover to catch up to other guys but I'm enjoying the workouts.

 

[Tsal]

Hey guys, I have a question for you: should I go back to rugby?

I've been away from the local club for a while. I recently met an old rugby pal of mine at the gym, and I said that I might come to check out a practice one of these days, just for fun. Been thinking about it since.

 

[Vorago]

Do it!

I've always found it more fun to lift weights for a specific purpose (rugby for instance) than just for the sake of lifting.

What position did you play?

 

[Tsal]

What position did you play?

Blindside flanker. Although, I must say the last time played I made the mistake of getting into it head first, and planned all my training after rugby. It actually took the fun out of it, and I ended up being more stressed, since I felt my progress wasn't good enough to make me a valuable player. So I quit for a while. Now, I'm thinking going back just for fun, training only once in a while, and see if I'd enjoy it more playing for myself.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Is that just clean and snatch, or are other lifts involved?

Just Clean & Jerk and Snatch. Oly lifting used to also have a press, but they dropped that in the 70s.

It's nuts, Olympic class lifters have totals which is getting close to 500Kg, which is nuts for two overhead lifts!


Tsal, def. go for rugby

I'm wanting to get back into it too. Used to be a wing forward (openside).

 

[Asa Samuel]

Yep, people used to round their back alot to cheat so it became hard to judge the press so they dropped it, a shame I think because if you can do heavy presses it's a great display of your strength... which I can't, I'm in at a lame 25kg at the moment.

I'm finally settling into this routine, Squats went great on wednesday and all that dynamic stretching has really paid off, I had to lower the spotters on my squat stands because I was squatting lower than I did before, I'll have to get my girlfriend to check how far below parallel I'm going. I'm also doing my OH press standing up so I managed to complete 25kg 3x7 whereas sitting I could barely do 5 on my first set.

Bench press today, but I'm going to have to turn my squatassist into a bench-assist, cut it down and put it under the feet of my bench to raise me up an inch or two, as If I have the spotters on their middle spot they are way too low, and If I have them at the top they are an inch or so too high, so I'll have them at the top and put my bench-assist under the feet. Sorted.

Also doing bent-over row today, nothing to say about that one except I love em.

Lift heavy everyone

 

[dj150888]

Tsal, def. go for rugby

I'm wanting to get back into it too. Used to be a wing forward (openside).

Thirding the "go back to rugby" motion here. Played hooker for years myself until due to a severe leg break I was advised never to do contact sport again.

Still miss it.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

My old man used to play Hook. Would have gone international if it hadnt been from a few health issues. Broken neck from a collapsed scrum being one of them. (played for scottish schools and west of scotland). Was never a position I managed well at.

 

[kesslari]

Fun exercise if you've a mind to try it.
One had barbell bench presses.
Massively forces you to stabilize the bar.
Obviously, you're doing one hand at a time, so it also puts a lot of work on your core.
I just tried it for the first time this week, and managed 10's on a standard Oly bar. Not a lot of weight, but a lot of workout...

Have fun and train hard.

 

[Tsal]

By the way, I managed to pull a muscle today, some a bit smaller muscle around the glute. It's been sore for a couple of days from training, and today I lost my balance while tying shoelaces and pulled it. Felt like someone had kicked me into the spot where glute and rear thigh meet. It doesn't feel too bad ATM, but I suppose it's a week of no leg work for me and I'll see how it heals.

The first rugby practice is on the Monday a week from now, I'm hoping I'll be okay by then.

 

[Asa Samuel]

Squats were hard today as I mis-read the spreadsheet and did 47.5kg rather than 45, it was really tough skipping a day's worth of weights

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Im sure it wasnt that bad

Shows you can manage more than you thought tho.

I'm down with a cold right now. Feels like someone is tapdancing on my head.

 

[lowendmafia]

I just found out that I will be able to get my International Ketllebell Fitness Federation Instruction Certification (IFKK) on Thursday with Steve Cotter. This is a huge deal and one of the top certifications in the fitness world, so I am unbelievably excited.