Gym Routine

[Stevo985]

10 hours ago, JB said:

I'd guess that I'm somewhere around 15% body fat at the moment and had been aiming for s return to the glory days of 7-8%... But that looks a long way off now! 

Basically where I'm at now (although I've never been 7-8% before. I'd guess the lowest I've ever been is about 12%)

I'm around 16% at the moment according to my scales (which I don't trust, but it does look about right on this occasion)

Trying to get as lean as possible as I'll be on a beach in 4 weeks. Not going to get much below 15% at this rate but I'll settle for anything under 15% at this stage.

 

Then beyond that I'm intending to carry on dieting through winter this year in an effort to finally get a 10% and below body fat.

Never done it before, it's about time I did it.

[JB]

15% is purely an estimate for me based on being able to see the outline of the top of my abs and some OK definition around that area.

I think my main issue is that getting to the sub-10 levels requires a lot of social compromise (or high levels of exercise, which is how I did it before through rugby) - not going out for food without knowing the calorie content of meals or having to keep a strict eye on the number of drinks you have on a night out. If you don't have a partner or friends who are equally invested then it makes you look a bit antisocial. Unless you're aiming to make weight for something or a competitive bodybuilder it's hard to find the motivation to get beyond the levels of just looking pretty good.

Shouldn't underestimate the number of guys who are pharmacologically-assisted, either. My mate at work keeps going on about clenbuterol... Apparently it's done wonders for him but that's not really my scene.

Oh well. I've done the classic thing of writing-off the diet this week and aiming for a fresh start Monday haha. 

[Stevo985]

Ah the Monday diet. My other half lives by that

 

I think I could get 10% with some dedication.

My problem is I always start too late. So I get to my holiday reasonably in shape, body fat wise, but short of what my ultimate goal was. And I'm always thinking "If I'd just done this for 6 weeks more then I'd be laughing".

But then I'm on holiday so I eat like a rabid horse for 2 weeks, and come back without the motivation to get back on the diet, or I end up bulking.

 

This year I'm determined to get back on it when I'm back from holiday

[villaglint]

I'd absolutely go with the upping cardio route. So if you know your going out at the weekend for a meal and you don't want to like a prize bell pricing up the menu calorie wise on myfitnesspal then you just earn it through cardio. 

When I'm cutting I just swap my usual lunch for soup and drop the toast with my dinner (I always have toast for some bizarre reason) and also measure my cereal rather than having a giant bowl. Three really simple cuts that make no difference to my hunger levels. Keep everything the same and seems to work a charm. If I'm being super disciplined though like I said above I do have to earn the extra treats. 

[Dr_Pangloss]

I tend to sit at 15%, it's a healthy body fat to be at and optimal for my goals. Not convinced >= 10% is healthy. It's been documented that going substantially lower than this can cause lower testosterone production, worse workout recovery, weaker immune system and guys can even find it harder to get it up! But can understand why people will want to do it for the 'look'. Lowest I've been is around 9% and I felt like shite whilst at it. 

Also worth pointing out that calibers are pretty shite and prone to serious measurement errors, I know guys who think that are 8-9% but are closer to 11-12%. 

[Rds1983]

Picked up a copy of the Lean Muscle Diet after seeing it recommended in here.

[Davkaus]

On 3/9/2017 at 16:08, Davkaus said:

I had my first session following it today, I resisted the urge to stick weight on there and just stuck to the starting numbers (benching the bar was a little humbling), as I figure it's best to spend a few sessions working on form and I'll be back at the weight I was doing with dumbbells pretty damn quickly anyway. I can see me spending a few sessions just squatting the bar as by the 4th set I could feel the form going. 

I strongly regret signing up to a 2 year contract at a gym that only has one squat rack. And no dip bars. 

I'll admit that in March and April, things tailed off and I found lots of excuses not to drag my arse to the gym, but I'm about to head there again to mark the first time I've ever stuck to my schedule of 3 times a week for 4 weeks running..I'm actually looking forward to it as a way to break up my working day now (going at lunctime!)

My numbers are still pretty pathetic, to be expected at this stage really, but I'm already comfortably above what I was using with dumbbells. The 2kg jump per arm was just too much, especially as I was doing sets of 10.

I'm seriously weighing up paying out my gym contract over a year early, a few times I've popped my head in, saw someone using the squat rack, and I've had to go back upstairs and try again later. It's a cardio gym really. 6 bloody treadmills, one squat rack.

[magnkarl]

At my age I'm finding it harder and harder to retain muscle. I put on plenty of fat if I don't watch it but the muscle just drains off as soon as I don't train regularly. To get my body fat % down I used to do interval hill runs in a place called Old Winchester Hill where the gradient is quite heavy. I'd sprint as fast as I could up this hill, jog down and repeat 5 times. If you want to get into your red zone and have a great after burn effect this is the way to do it. You'll engage your core and a whole variety of back muscles if the gradient is steep enough too - so it's a good all rounder.

A good tip for anyone wanting to remain healthy as they grow old is to keep doing pull ups and chin ups. I find that it straightens out my back and fixes a lot of back problems in about a week. I try to do 2 sets of 10 of these every two days and it keeps my old motorcycle back injury in check.

[mikeyp102]

Anyone ever had a hanstring injury and know any exercises/stretches to improve it?

[BOF]

11 hours ago, mikeyp102 said:

Anyone ever had a hanstring injury and know any exercises/stretches to improve it?

I may be wrong, but if it's a pulled hamstring then exercise is the worst thing for it.  It needs rest.

[BOF]

So, on Friday I dropped a weight straight onto my stocking foot from head height.

In my defence, it couldn't have been set up better to happen.

Squat rack.  With the deadlift weights all neatly put back in their place.  Now you know the way deadlift weights are always the same diameter even if they're 5kg, so that the D/L bar is always the same distance from the ground ... all big ****.

Right.

Well I needed the weight that was 2nd in.  So I slid the first weight off (5kg).  I then slid the 2nd weight off.  Trouble is there was a tiny 2.5 kg steel disc (pic) in between the 2 of them.  A completely flat one which I never noticed.  I never saw it because you're not looking for that diameter on that rack.  It slid off with the larger weight and dropped straight onto my foot.  My stocking foot.

In one way I was lucky.  If it had hit my foot an inch further forward I'd have broken at least 1 or maybe more toes.  If it had dropped an inch further back it would have hit that ball thing on top of the foot close to the leg and maybe shattered it.  As it was, it hit the middle where there is at least some give.  I now have 3 black toes and a nice cut line across the centre of my foot.

I will also be more vigilant of tiny weights in future.  That's the kind of thing that only happens once.  I know it was my fault, but was someone being even a little bit inconsiderate with the way they were racked?

[V01]

They saw you coming, defo your gym nemesis trying to be a gains goblin.

[a m ole]

10 hours ago, BOF said:

I may be wrong, but if it's a pulled hamstring then exercise is the worst thing for it.  It needs rest.

definitely. Give it the full rest and start with gentle stretching after, make sure there's no pain in doing so. I'd avoid any isolation in strengthening exercises after, do compounds with lower weight than you're used to.

[JB]

Training in my gym just now doing incline bench. Got two 20kg plates and a 10kg plate on each side. First set done. Rest 2 minutes before second set. Do a few reps and the bar feels weird. Unbalanced. Much heavier on my left side. I re-rack the bar and see the 10kg has disappeared of the right side of the bar. Turns out one of the words removed next to me had taken it off for him to use! He reckoned that he didn't know I was using it but I'd rested 2 minutes maximum and hadn't even stood up from the bench at any point during that. 

Unbelievable. The level of sheer word removed-ishness knows no bounds in this place. Definitely leaving at the end of my contract. 

Edited May 30, 2017 by JB

[BOF]

16 minutes ago, JB said:

Training in my gym just now doing incline bench. Got two 20kg plates and a 10kg plate on each side. First set done. Rest 2 minutes before second set. Do a few reps and the bar feels weird. Unbalanced. Much heavier on my left side. I re-rack the bar and see the 10kg has disappeared of the right side of the bar. Turns out one of the words removed next to me had taken it off for him to use! He reckoned that he didn't know I was using it but I'd rested 2 minutes maximum and hadn't even stood up from the bench at any point during that. 

Unbelievable. The level of sheer word removed-ishness knows no bounds in this place. Definitely leaving at the end of my contract. 

That is un.be.lievable.

[villaglint]

At least he waited until you put the bar down rather than doing it mid set

[Dante_Lockhart]

I knackered my middle finger on my right hand last year and it's still knackered now. Really affects my grip.

Basically I went to a spa with the missus for the weekend last year and popped to the gym on site. Started doing some dumbbell chest presses. Now, these weights were a lot wider and a lot thinner than the ones I was used to at my gym, so at the end of the set I bring the weights together above my chest and sit up, but due to the size difference in the weights as I brought them together they missed each other and the weight went full belt into my knuckle. I think I probably broke my finger but never had anything done about it so it has set wrong.

[Stevo985]

1 hour ago, JB said:

Training in my gym just now doing incline bench. Got two 20kg plates and a 10kg plate on each side. First set done. Rest 2 minutes before second set. Do a few reps and the bar feels weird. Unbalanced. Much heavier on my left side. I re-rack the bar and see the 10kg has disappeared of the right side of the bar. Turns out one of the words removed next to me had taken it off for him to use! He reckoned that he didn't know I was using it but I'd rested 2 minutes maximum and hadn't even stood up from the bench at any point during that. 

Unbelievable. The level of sheer word removed-ishness knows no bounds in this place. Definitely leaving at the end of my contract. 

That happened to me a few months ago.

However, in my situation it really was an accident. It was a girl who was having a PT session and looked like she'd never been in a gym before.
The bench press in my gym has lots of hook for hanging weights on so I think she just got confused

she was very apologetic when I asked for it back

[JB]

I'd definitely have just laughed it off in those circumstances. But this was three lads using decent weights. His excuse was, "I didn't realise you were using it". Yeah, I'm just sitting on the bench with a loaded bar for fun!  

[Rds1983]

I've started going to the work gym when doing long days and won't be able to get to the usual one. No power rack so use the leg press instead and just set a new PB of 3x10 @175kg, I'd struggle to squat 125kg it's crazy the difference machines make.