The official gym & weightlifting thread! rep #2

[i_got_a_mohawk]

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Theres a couple lifts. Most compound lifts making use of your upper legs and/or lower back will hit your Gluteus Maximus


Hehe, Vene wants junk in the trunk

 

[vene-nemesis]

Hehe, Vene wants junk in the trunk

OH HELL I HOPE THAT DOESNT MEAN WHAT I THINK IT MEANS!


BTW thx for the links!

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Don't know anything about hitting it specifically, but squats are always a winner. For everything. Ever.

 

[vene-nemesis]

Don't know anything about hitting it specifically, but squats are always a winner. For everything. Ever.

I used to squat like 2-3 times a week but this year i had classes at 4th floor and I had to choose, squats or going upstairs.

So lately ive been going for the Croissant looks!

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[Mark Reccord]

My body is using the muscle, so it still needs it so it won't break it down for energy as quickly.

I've on 1000 calories or so per day for well over a month now, and my lifts have gone up (granted, not by much). So I'm pretty sure it isn't impairing my strength

You loose more muscle if you don't do any gym time and just diet, you'll loose more muscle than fat!. (because if you aren't using it, it's excess, and causing your body to be inefficient, so when starved your body will burn it up for energy and to increase efficiency)

My scales do bodyfat% too, and it's gone down, but I haven't really been paying too much attention to it, because the level of hydration will have a big effect on the reading (not to mention they are never terribly accurate anyway). I can see that I'm loosing fat

Good stuff on the squat stands. Make sure to get the technique down first before building up the weight.

I was curious about this so I asked a physician friend of mine. He's into sports medicine and fitness so I trust his opinion. He figures that 3 lbs a week loss is pushing it. He didn't say it was necessarily unhealthy but that it was on the cusp.

Personally, if I was on a 1000 calorie a day diet I wouldn't have the energy to walk up a flight of stairs let alone work out. But that's me. Everyone's different.

Anyhoo, recently I've been concentrating on strength, endurance and cardiovascular fitness not mass, so I've been doing HIIT and weight training on alternating days. I've been doing light weights and a lot of reps and a lot of compound exercises like squats, wide grip chinups, dips, etc. For example, I'll do 5 sets of squats at 120-150lb (55-70kg), 15 reps per set.

The weight that I gained last fall after my hernia surgery is just melting off me. I'm eating a balanced diet but not doing anything in particular diet-wise.

I've noticed that my stamina on the ski hill has improved quite a bit this year so the exercise program must be doing something good.

And for anyone who's wants to start doing squats, like Mohawk said, make sure you've got your technique sorted before ramping the weight up. I hurt my lower back quite badly doing squats a few years ago.

And don't be like 80% of people at the gym candy-assing their squats by only going halfway down. You need to go down at least to the point where your upper legs are parallel with the floor (preferably a little further).

Oh, and I tried Turkish getups on friday. I found them pretty brutal even with a 25lb weight. I'm going to incorporate them into the workout.

 

[Asa Samuel]

Turkish getups = win!

I'm using a piece of wood under my heels while I'm developing my ankle mobility. I can barely get to parallel otherwise. It makes me use the front of my feet more which puts a bit more pressure on my knees but I want to get the deepness of the squats. I'm not planning on using the wood for very much longer.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I used to squat like 2-3 times a week but this year i had classes at 4th floor and I had to choose, squats or going upstairs.

So lately ive been going for the Croissant looks!

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Nice

And I know the pain regarding stairs, but it must be good . . . right?

I was curious about this so I asked a physician friend of mine. He's into sports medicine and fitness so I trust his opinion. He figures that 3 lbs a week loss is pushing it. He didn't say it was necessarily unhealthy but that it was on the cusp.

Personally, if I was on a 1000 calorie a day diet I wouldn't have the energy to walk up a flight of stairs let alone work out. But that's me. Everyone's different.

I'll admit I had to psychologically push myself pretty hard, especially to start with. And a lot of it was to do with knowing when to eat if you were going to do something etc.

It's pushing it, I wouldn't say it isn't, but it works. Tis just harder, but the harder I push it the quicker the weight goes, the sooner I can get back to eating more!

Anyhoo, recently I've been concentrating on strength, endurance and cardiovascular fitness not mass, so I've been doing HIIT and weight training on alternating days. I've been doing light weights and a lot of reps and a lot of compound exercises like squats, wide grip chinups, dips, etc. For example, I'll do 5 sets of squats at 120-150lb (55-70kg), 15 reps per set.

And don't be like 80% of people at the gym candy-assing their squats by only going halfway down. You need to go down at least to the point where your upper legs are parallel with the floor (preferably a little further).
.

Compound excersises FTW!

And too true. I must admit that I find myself going too low. Want to stop at parallel , well, with back squats at least

Turkish getups = win!

I'm using a piece of wood under my heels while I'm developing my ankle mobility. I can barely get to parallel otherwise. It makes me use the front of my feet more which puts a bit more pressure on my knees but I want to get the deepness of the squats. I'm not planning on using the wood for very much longer.

Do you do any strechs (as well as a warmup) before working out mate?

I just find it strange that you still have mobility problems trying to get parallel. I used to be very similar, but, almost tearing you achillies tendon in half will tend to do that (dont have the same mobility in my left leg, never will). But like we said earlier, everyones different 'n' all that jazz.

Just keep up at it

 

[Asa Samuel]

Do you do any strechs (as well as a warmup) before working out mate?

I just find it strange that you still have mobility problems trying to get parallel. I used to be very similar, but, almost tearing you achillies tendon in half will tend to do that (dont have the same mobility in my left leg, never will). But like we said earlier, everyones different 'n' all that jazz.

Just keep up at it

Yeah, I do a few minutes jogging on the spot (untill I get a rowing machine) then some dynamic stretches before I lift, and then static stretching afterwards, I do all that every workout. Then I'm also gonna be adding this in on my legs day [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I don't want to be a plank when I get bigger so I'm making sure I stretch before/after every workout.

EDIT: I will also be doing these [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Asa Samuel]

Having those for my leg workouts, what dynamic stretches could I do for my upper-body workouts? I won't need to do any leg stretches to warm those muscles up as the only leg work in push/pull is the deadlift and thats it.

Do you guys know any I could do?

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Only muscle groups I ever stretch are calfs, hamstrings, quads, lower back and chest.

Don't really know what else you'd need to work on. Those are the heavy muscle groups.

 

[Asa Samuel]

Squat stands turned up today, shame it was leg day yesterday

I'm gonna be using them for my push day tomorrow though, I tried bench pressing on them with a light weight and didn't realise how far forward (towards my feet) the bar went when I lower it, gonna have to fix that.

It's a bit annoying that because it's a 5ft bar I've got to have the stansd on the outside of my weights, so when changing weights I slide it along untill it's on the correct side, put the weights on, then slide it the other way (picking up one end of the bar to get the weights over the rack) then repeat on the other side. Otherwise there isn't enough space for my feet.

I'll live with it, just glad to finally have some spotters.

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Good stuff. And I dont know how anyone could live with a 5ft bar.

Have you considered hitting your body all round each time you go to the gym? At the stage where you are at you should be able to handle that no problem?

I havent been to the gym in about a week and im feeling crap

 

[Tsal]

Only muscle groups I ever stretch are calfs, hamstrings, quads, lower back and chest. Don't really know what else you'd need to work on. Those are the heavy muscle groups.

Those are what I usually stretch, too. Helps with the posture.

By the way, do you guys have any good lower back stretches to share?

 

[Asa Samuel]

Good stuff. And I dont know how anyone could live with a 5ft bar.

Have you considered hitting your body all round each time you go to the gym? At the stage where you are at you should be able to handle that no problem?

I havent been to the gym in about a week and im feeling crap

space issue's for me, a 7 ft bar is just too long, at the moment even if I wanted to get Oly weights at the moment I'd need to get a 6ft or 5 ft bar.

Well I did do a full-body strength routine before but It got boring just doing the same things every workout. I could still do one but it's time for something different.

Those are what I usually stretch, too. Helps with the posture.

By the way, do you guys have any good lower back stretches to share?

Clasp your hands in front of you and push them forwards

Lie on your back, hands behind your knees and draw your knees slowly into your chest.

On your back, legs straight out, bring your right leg up so your thigh is perpendicular to the floor and your lower leg is parallel, then bring your right leg over to your left side, keeping your shoulders on the floor but letting your hips follow over then repeat on the other side.


Pyramids weren't doing it for me so I'm doing 3x7 now.

I know it sounds like I'm always changing what I'm doing but I'm trying out different things to find what I like doing.

 

[Tsal]

On your back, legs straight out, bring your right leg up so your thigh is perpendicular to the floor and your lower leg is parallel, then bring your right leg over to your left side, keeping your shoulders on the floor but letting your hips follow over then repeat on the other side.

Ok, this works pretty well. I'll give this pic of a good glute stretch in trade. You pull the knee towards your chest:

 

[Asa Samuel]

Got anything else to trade? I already do something like that, except I leave my other foot on the floor, grab the knee and just above the ankle and pull that leg up, and slightly across and it works my glutes great!

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

I bought this a while back:

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Tho the problem is some of the stretches are badly made up and could very easily result in damaging yourself. Just a case of knowing whats good and whats not I suppose. But generally a good reference.

BJ, I'd be tempted to keep going at the same thing, without changing workouts too much, especially with being new to things as your body will still be figuring out how to get the most of what you already have etc. So take advantage of the starting gains with using the same routine, and save routine changes for when you hit plateaus.

You can hit the same bits of the body each day but still be doing different excersises, probably even better this way as you will be using the same muscles over a range of different motions. It just seems a bit wasteful at this stage (IMO, so, just saying how I see things), as your legs really aren't going to need a week to recover with the lifts you are currently doing etc etc.

 

[Tsal]

Got anything else to trade? I already do something like that, except I leave my other foot on the floor, grab the knee and just above the ankle and pull that leg up, and slightly across and it works my glutes great!

Nope, but do try that one. I do both the way you describe it (in sitting position) and the one in the picture.

 

[daystcity]

Just started out this month and am slowly building up my feeble weight (90lbs squats ftw!) but I've noticed that when I went from pushups to bench pressing, pushups got a lot harder, it's like I get weaker every time I work out my chest benching, don't have this problem with any other excercise... oh well, just going to keep at it I guess . Also, can you guys give me a guide to different bar weights? I went to a different gym during spring break because school was closed and I'm pretty sure the bar is 20lbs heavier, I think it's longer too. Thanks!

 

[i_got_a_mohawk]

What kind of bar are you using?

There are two main kinds:

Standard -

1 inch diameter holes in the weights that go on the ends, generally solid bar, generally 5ft long, generally screw threads on the parts where the weights go.

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Olympic -

2 inch diameter holes in the weights that are used, have rotating collars where the weight goes on. Usually a spring collar (or clamping collar) and the part where the bars go is smooth. These are generally 6ft or 7ft long.

Standard bars are generally 5-10Kg in weight (~11-22lbs), however they are usually on the lower end of that.

Olympic bars come in two flavours (generally). The 6ft womens bar, this weighs 15Kg (33lbs) and the 7ft mens bar, which weighs 20Kgs (44lbs). The mens bar is also generally thicker than the womens bar.

You also get a mix of other things, curl bars, tricep bars, thick bars etc etc.


Possibly the reason you were "weaker" at push ups is because when you used to do them before, that was the only chest/tri excersise you did. Now you are also bench pressing which also hits your chest and tri's.

Just like how my front squats would be "weaker" if I did them after I had already done back squats during the day. If that makes sense?