ArteSuave Posted September 3, 2014 Share Posted September 3, 2014 No worries, I'd lifted for about 4 years on and off when I bought the stuff but I'd wasted a lot of that time **** around with my mates in the gym in that time instead of getting stronger. If you've got the space and money up front then buying your own equipment is definitely the best option IMO. If I could start my lifting career all over again I'd buy the same stuff and start with a basic routine, something like Starting Strength (linked in the second ever post of this thread). The most important bits of equipment are a power cage, a bench, a barbell and some weight plates. You can try and find used stuff if you want a bargain but there's enough cheap new stuff on ebay to get a decent set up going. I got THIS cage for example. Depending on the floor in your spare room I'd recommend putting some floor covering down as well, I think this is actually all covered in the Starting Strength book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted September 3, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted September 3, 2014 Cheers for the info mate, I'll check out Starting Strength! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 3, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted September 3, 2014 I'd be very wary of doing weights in an upstairs room. You'd probably need to reinforce the floor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 That's a good point. Deadlift is probably the only lift that you need to be wary of. I think plywood (I've got 2 layers of exterior plywood with the grain perpendicular to each other) underneath everything would spread the load but I'm not too sure if that would be enough to completely protect from repeated heavy DLs in the long term upstairs. Depends on the house I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Did a nice 4k run this morning to ease back into cardio. Was shattered. First week back and it's been Mon: Squats, Bench and Rows, Wed: Squats,OHP and DL, Fri: Run. Legs are feeling it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 5, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted September 5, 2014 Nice work. Back on a 5x5? I'm doing a strength/density routine at the moment. So 4 times a week and you alternate between strength workouts (8 sets of your 3 rep max) and density workouts (7 sets, starting at your 8 rep max and trying to hit 30 reps total for the whole set) It's a killer. 8 sets of Deadlifts at 3 rep max is ridiculous. Need to add cardio back in. Urgh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante_Lockhart Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I did 3x8 this week as a warm-up to get back into it (form a such) but I will be doing 5x5 next week. Get my strength and stamina back up to scratch. Hurt like a mother yesterday when I was throwing the little one up in the air and catching him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morley_crosses_to_Withe Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Does anyone else use MuscleFood? I've been buying most of my food from there recently. They do a huge range of products and the meat is great value e.g. you can get 5KG of decent sized chicken breasts, which don't shrink during cooking, for £25. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 5, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted September 5, 2014 I don't, but I very well might from now on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapal_fan Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Go to Makro.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Muscle Food are really good but for the past few months I've been using FreshFoodGuru.co.uk. Mainly because they do 5kg of Dutch Chicken Breast Fillets for £20! but also because they sell piedmontese steaks. I buy an absolutely obscene amount of meat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morley_crosses_to_Withe Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 I don't, but I very well might from now on! I definitely recommend them. There are other good companies who offer a similar service, as Arte mentioned, but MuscleFood do such a broad range of products. I buy a huge proportion of my weekly food shopping from them now. If you put in an order then let me know, I'll send you my referral code - you'll get four free chicken breasts or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArteSuave Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Yeah I can vouch for them too, they're excellent. I think you get a choice of free stuff when you use a referral code, for some bizarre reason (somewhere between apathy and curiosity) I chose protein bread. Don't choose protein bread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Folski Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Anyone any experience using pyramid sets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 10, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted September 10, 2014 Yep. Used them for about 18 months. Only recently moved off them. They're fairly common I think. I like them because they give you a variation on rep range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaglint Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I love the Gym End of anecdote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 12, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted September 12, 2014 I've lost a lot of motivation lately. Don't really know what it is. Managing to stick to my diet more or less but when I get to the gym I just can't wait to get out of there again. I'm still putting the work in but I'd be lying if I said I'm working as hard as I usually do. Annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dom_Wren Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 lost 14lbs in 30 days. happy with that. Went from 240lbs, to 226lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted September 14, 2014 Share Posted September 14, 2014 I've lost a lot of motivation lately. Don't really know what it is. Managing to stick to my diet more or less but when I get to the gym I just can't wait to get out of there again. I'm still putting the work in but I'd be lying if I said I'm working as hard as I usually do. Annoying. Feeling the same, I've been worse though - I haven't lifted for nearly 5 weeks now after a real good 6 months of progress. I've been playing football quite a bit, which is keeping/improving my general fitness, but I need to get back into gear and get lifting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted September 16, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted September 16, 2014 Discovered my breakfast is about 400 calories more than I thought it was. Probably explains why I was struggling to lose fat recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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