JB

Sorry to call you out again (not trying to be a dick at all) but that is simply not true. Recently been proven to be perhaps the most bro-ist of bro myths. (FWIW I agree with most of the other stuff you say)

Don't post something you read somewhere or heard somewhere? Eh? So where can we get our knowledge from then? I think it's all about choosing your sources carefully. For example, after reading a published study by Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, I feel pretty confident about reporting his conclusions as fact .

Probably, yes. If your focus is building muscle certainly. I'll be honest, until the last year or two I generally avoided them, too - so you live and learn . However, some of them are most definitely a waste of time.

"That was the RKC plank." Errr no it wasn't! He's missed out the most crucial cue! If you can hold it for 30 seconds to a minute it's not an RKC plank. 10 seconds max. I have a very short list of trainers whose I articles/videos I trust. Bret Contreras is probably at the top...

I'd agree that it's somewhat of a myth that free weights are always better than machines, certainly if the focus is building muscle. A good example is the bench press vs the chest press machine. To put it in simple terms, quite often with free weights, certain muscles (synergists) take over or take focus away from the agonist or the muscle you are primarily targeting (e.g., anterior deltoids and triceps reduce pec activation with the bench). A well-designed machine keeps the focus on the target muscle and importantly, maintains tension throughout the entire movement. I've been using the Hammer Strength press quite a lot lately (in addition to BB and DB benching) and noticed a real difference. Hack squats and a couple of rowing machines are favourites of mine as well. All of that said, free weights make up the bulk of my training and I would say that they're generally preferable for the majority of healthy, young-youngish beginners.

RKC plank. Game changer.

I'm writing it off as shit already. It will have to completely change in the remaining episodes for me to think otherwise. Unless I missed something then pretty much nothing happened (until the end, obviously). It's boring, convoluted and at times unintentionally hilarious. Oh and Vince Vaughan will always be Wes Mantooth.

Independent of the first season, this is a bit crap so far. Trying too hard maybe? I don't know but it's just not doing it for me. Cliche-ridden, some terrible dialogue and a mystery that it's hard to give a shit about. Will stick with it in the hope it picks up, though. At least it raised a laugh this week... "Smells like piss" .

Examine.com is amazing.

Interesting that you dont use an intra shake, you dont add them to the diets/programs you create either? Nope. I guess I haven't done enough research on their efficacy to justify it. I find that I do fine just sipping water throughout. I never feel like I run out of gas before the end of a session either. I took BCAAs for a while but didn't feel like they did anything for me.

I know naff all about pre and during workout supplementation if I'm honest. I got a free sample of something called Haemo Rage once (and it did give me a bit of boost) but apart from that I've never used a pre-workout formula. All I take is creatine pre-workout, whey, creatine and maltodextrin or vitargo post-workout. Sometimes I'm curious about what I could do if I went on one of those crazy pre-workouts stack I see guys in my gym taking. But I can't be arsed.

I tend to use the Harris-Benedict formula and it's proved pretty accurate for myself and people I've done diets/programs for.

Yep textbook stance and torso angle on the avatar . I'd recommend Diesel SC and Joe Defranco videos on dead lift. Their tips on set-up, particularly taking the slack out of the bar, were gamechangers for me. Do you not find that the OH press destroys your lower back? I'm not a huge fan of the movement anyway but I don't even bother trying it anymore. I build my sessions around the same compound movements as you - only switching the OH press for pull-ups (and I prefer front squatting to standard).

Have you thought about learning the sumo dead lift? I mentioned before that I didn't dead lift for ages because of some lower back issues that would come back if I ever tried loaded carries or conventional dead lift. I've been doing sumo for a couple of months now and am (touch wood) pain free. In fact, if anything I feel a bit better. Obviously I've got no idea what your back issues are so it might not work for you.

Well that was just typical Villa. Build us up just to knock us back down, really **** hard. I was expecting that in the semi final to be honest. I let myself get excited about football for the first time in god knows how long and was just reminded why I started to hate it in the first place. Gutless, pathetic, cowardly performance. Our "senior" players should be ashamed of themselves. I'm sick of being laughed at for supporting Villa. Unfortunately, this club keeps on giving people reasons.

When we got to the cup final in 2000 when I was teenager, I had to go to my cousins wedding so missed it. Immediately after the final whistle of the semi-final, I realised that May 30th is the date of one of my best mate's weddings. I've never been to another wedding in May. What are the chances eh?

My honest advice would be to find yourself a good trainer. Do some research, look for testimonials and ask about their experience of working with someone such as yourself. There are some absolute turds out there masquerading as trainers. Given your age and injury history, if they don't give you a movement and postural assessment prior to giving you a program then I would recommend finding another. It won't necessarily have to be a long term thing either. They should just put you on the right track.

Anyone ever watched Generation Iron on Netflix? There's a bodybuilder in it called Branch Warren (comes across as a total knob). Think he's comes in the top few at Mr. Olympia most years. Anyway, I've just walked into my gym and he's sitting in reception!

Yeah that's a ballache. I always choose my supersets based on exercises that I can do on the same equipment or in the same area. Quite lucky to have a gym with loads of squat racks so I did my front squats on one next to the leg curl. In fairness, I'm pretty sure it's not essential to do them as supersets but it certainly saves a lot of time!

Yep, that's what I did and I'm pretty sure it's a fundamental of the original program. It's not as hard as it sounds. I wasn't quite sure about his guidelines on rest... Couldn't figure out whether he was saying to rest 90 seconds between every exercise or between each superset. I started off resting between each exercise but found that I was ready to go pretty much straight away so only rested after each superset. Didn't affect my lifts.

Ah one thing that I didn't notice in that article was that the two main exercises should be supersetted with each other. Not as knackering as it sounds! There's loads of science backing up the effect of antagonistic supersets. My routine at the moment is based on them.

Looks sound. They've stuck to the basic principles. Quite often when someone gives their "take" on GVT it ends up changing some fundamentals of the original program. That said, I tailored my exercise selection a little. Didn't do abs on leg day and stuck an extra leg exercise in there and did core work at the end of a session or two a week. I didn't do the 10x10 either. Like I said, went with the lower reps/heavier weights. Searching for 'advanced GVT' should take you to the TNation article.

I like the sound of that split. I'm a big fan of varying weights and rep ranges. I'm doing something similar at the moment.

Nope. VT is the only forum I'm a member of. I've browsed the TNation forums before but found that I had to wade through a lot of shit to get to any decent information. Although I must admit that I didn't have the patience to spend much time on there so I'm sure there's some really good stuff to be found. I've learnt tons from the professional articles on their main site.

My mistake. It just looked like that from your post.