JB

I'm not sure what your goals are and I obviously don't know anything about the rest of your training program but if your trainer is favouring isolating your arms over training your lower body (or pretty much any other body part for that matter) then he's an idiot! Depending on your level of experience, direct arm training isn't even necessary. You say you're not feeling 'buff', so I'll assume you're fairly inexperienced? In that case, you would be far better served getting good at compound movements like bench, dead lifts, pull/chin-ups where the muscles in your arms will act as synergists and grow in addition to/proportion with the other muscles in the upper body. Any remotely competent trainer should be able to tell you that. I don't normally like criticising other trainers but it pisses me off when I hear about them getting away with fleecing people with such shitty training methods.

Yep agree with all of that. Hopefully we can get the Ashton of 2010 back.

Yeah, he fell hook, line and sinker for Fickou's dummy If he hadn't of bought it, there's a good chance that conversion would have been missed and it would have set up a very exciting final two minutes, or however long they would have played on after the 80. Yeah I was livid at the lack of effort to stop him going right under the posts. It was a shame to see Jonny May go off so early - he was looking sharp. Also, how good is Big Ben Morgan?! Billy's pretty handy too, though!

hmm, that's quite interesting, I've been in and around Cardiff all day today, including a few hours in the city centre before and after the game (shopping!). I might be a bit dim, but in the drive there and back through a couple of towns and in 4 hours of walking and shopping - I didn't see a single French flag. Saw lots of Italy flags, could you possibly have seen Italy fans? Cardiff market was full of them. * not suggesting you're fibbing, every nation has it's share of dickheads Haha well I have to say, it seems exactly like you're suggesting I'm making it up! Either that or I can't tell the difference between Italian and French flags! I could tell you exactly what street I saw one of the French flags hanging out of a window next to a Welsh one. Just because we were in the same city doesn't mean that we've been to exactly the same places and seen the same people! Mate I've been to uni in Cardiff, and lived here in a couple of spells since and stuff like the flags thing happens all the time. The anti-Englishness goes far beyond rivalry. Some of the things I've seen and heard have been pretty extreme, so I'll admit that I'm pretty sensitive to it. It seems like a lot of Welsh people enjoy being anti-English over being pro-Welsh. Almost every English person I know who's spent significant time in Wales or amongst Welsh people feels the same. I don't want to ruin this thread by banging on about it or starting a debate though, so I'll leave it there!

Yeah, in fairness, Nigel Owens had an excellent game.

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It's pathetic and speaks volumes of the Welsh how many French flags I have seen hanging out of windows and round the shoulders of people in Welsh jerseys around Cardiff today. Oh and can Eddie Butler please **** off and stick to commentating on Wales games? Not only is he a rocket polisher but an incompetent commentator who can barely disguise his bias.

They've won something like the last three tournaments following a Lions tour, I believe. Can't see it this year though...

Obviously I don't know where/what your pain is but if it's preventing you doing dead lifts and squats, I'd hazard a guess at it being something to do with tight/immobile hips. It can cause pain in the leg/knee and lower back. Like I say, it's a guess but I'd recommend getting a full postural assessment or seeing a good sports physio as squatting or dead lifting are pretty essential movements. If I'm right, it may be relatively straightforward to sort out.

YES! Ashton dropped! Finally! Would like to have seen Eastmond in there, though. I'm a big fan.

Would love that to be true. I wouldn't be surprised to see us choke against Wales or Ireland again, though.

Can't wait. It's wide open this year IMO.

Just watched and very much enjoyed 'The Way, Way Back'.

Buzzing about my upper body session tonight... Managed to bench press the 65kg dumbbells for a comfortable 8 reps! Did not expect that!

Out of interest, how did you hear about Martin Rooney? Is he a name outside of MMA/BJJ? To be honest, I can't remember! It would probably either have been via his articles on T-Nation, the Fitcast or a video another trainer did with him. Yeah, I'd say he's a pretty massive name. I think I'd normally find someone like him quite cheesy but he's actually awesome. He cuts through a lot of bullshit with regards to training and most of his inspirational writing is very, well, inspirational!

Yeah that sounds familiar. Without wanting to sound like a dick and generalise too much (and I'm an aspiring trainer), the type of people that can be attracted to the fitness industry aren't necessarily the brightest or most selfless of people... Certainly in my experience, anyway. Some don't really give a shit about the clients. They know how to train themselves for their own goals but can't adapt. I know how to get myself bigger, leaner and stronger but the same approach wouldn't be appropriate/work for a middle-aged woman or a beginner. I've seen loads of trainers put clients on bodybuilding splits immediately and beast them with HIIT in their first session and others prescribe ridiculously complicated exercises to overweight clients, as if novelty value makes exercises more effective. I think there's a lot of dodgy information out there and if they don't make an effort (or care) to get educated it's easy to blindly follow it. That said, everybody makes mistakes and learns from them. It can be beneficial not to 'over-teach' beginners and just get them doing things naturally without overloading them with coaching cues and then fixing stuff as they get more comfortable with an exercise. There are also loads of awesome trainers about but finding them can be a bit tricky.

Yep HIIT is awesome. It's worth reading anything by Martin Rooney, who's a great writer and a massive proponent of sprinting over long-distance steady-state. His book 'Warrior Cardio' is fantastic. Agree with Stevo about looking at programmes like Starting Strength (and checking out the book by Mark Rippetoe). Even if you've been training for a number of years but not seeing great results, it would be worth a look as I'd wager that most beginners waste loads of time in the gym on isolation exercises, when they should focus on getting big and strong on the compound lifts. With regards to PTs, it's like any profession - you get awesome ones and really, really shit ones. When it comes to choosing one, I would look for one with some sort of strength and conditioning qualification. A good trainer would assess and teach movement patterns and mobility and ensure correct form on your lifts, whether it going to appropriate depth on squats, grooving the hip hinge for dead lifts and so on. I actually recently decided to get certified myself (and have got my UKSCA Foundation course booked for the summer) and I'm going to try and start training some people on the side and see if takes off.

In my experience, dizziness and slight nausea have been caused by an intense workout or dehydration. Very often people think that they're drinking enough but they aren't. Sometimes in the past if I haven't eaten enough or am getting over a big night out I've felt ropey, as well. But don't put too much stall in what some random guys on the internet say about what could well be a medical matter. If it continues, go and see a doctor.

You'd be better dropping the reps mate. Sounds like you've plateaued. Drop down to sets of 3 for a few weeks to mix it up. Don't be afraid of going even lower, too. Singles and doubles will both elicit strength gains. Nice, succinct summing up here from the legend that is Eric Cressey: http://www.ericcressey.com/why-i-dont-like-5x5

The deadlift is generally regarded as a lower-body, hip-dominant exercise but the beauty of it is that there aren't many muscles in the body that it doesn't recruit! It does indeed give all areas of the posterior chain a beating (in the best possible way!), though. I've certainly noticed the difference in my back (for the worse) since I had to stop doing them to rehab an unrelated injury. I genuinely can't wait to get back to them, though! I thoroughly recommend snatch-grip Deadlifts to mix things up a bit. Awesome.

Cheers fellas, much appreciated. Had a quick look online and that place does look pretty impressive. They've got a strongman room with lots of cool equipment by the looks of it. Found another one in Moseley called Rigs which looks pretty good as well. It's got sprint lanes with prowlers etc. but the free weights area maybe looks a bit small. Will check it out in more detail if the move materialises.

Yeah that gym looks awesome. Not too dissimilar to mine though if I'm honest. I'm lucky to train at a gym with an awesome owner who really knows his shit, so we've got loads of squat racks, bumper plates, benches and DBs up to 70kg, as well as two floors of AstroTurf for resisted sprints, tyres, prowlers, battle ropes etc. Best gym I've ever been to by about a million miles and it's only £30 per month! Really raises your game training in such a facility, too. Don't suppose anyone knows of anywhere similar in Birmingham as there's a chances I might be moving back closer to home in the next few months and would be gutted to leave all these toys behind!

A good programme for size, strength and athleticism is Joe DeFranco's WS4SB. Separates upper and lower body days with strength/max effort and hypertrophy/reps days for each. Lats are on fire after last night's sesh! 8 sets of 3 weighted pull-ups followed by some upper body posterior chain assistance work.

I agree with you. Massive Partridge fan - very disappointed by Alpha Papa. Don't get me wrong, I did laugh but there just weren't any 'classic' Partridge moments in it and it's probably the least funny thing he's been in. I think the whole heist storyline was unnecessary. He's at his funniest doing the mundane and being a total prick but he was almost too 'alright' in this.

This. And eat more. Absolutely. Prioritise protein and fats as much as possible, with carbs only really essential peri-workout. Earn your carbs .