Gym Routine

[Jarpie]

I've been going to the gym regularly since late april, I've taken just occasional week off. At the moment I just increased press (or lift) to 70kg (10 reps) from the bench, that should increase to about 13-15 with time, and then I'll up it again by 5kg. Depending on exercise either 35kg or 16kg triceps for 15 reps, 15 reps on either 30kg or 16kg for biceps (depending on type of the exercise), 35-40kg for shoulder press (15 reps again). For back I usually do about 65-75 kg for 15 reps, depending again on the exercise.

For legs I do leg extension machine with 110kg - 15 reps, angled leg press with 262 kg for 15 reps and leg curl with 75kg and again 15 reps. I do all reps in the series of three for each exercise. I've done some squats, but I had trouble with sciatic nerve during the winter so I've laid it off for a while.

[Stevo985]

On 26/02/2018 at 08:42, Stevo985 said:

The back has been pretty much fine since the middle of last week. Couldn't really feel anything.

So went back to the gym Friday and Monday. Avoided deadlifts, but did squats (although light squats only. About 70% of my current max) and barbell rows and all felt fine.

Will only get one gym visit this week as I'm away with work and then on holiday from Friday so that works out quite well to keep easing it back in.

 

It's amazing how much you WANT to go to the gym when you can't.

So been back at the gym a few times since this post. Back has been absolutely fine. Not felt a thing.

But I'd still avoided Deadlifts totally. Done other back work, but not those.

Tried them yesterday for the first time. Stayed light, the most I lifted was 25kg short of what I'd been lifting before, and 50kg short of my old PB. But I could feel my back hurting. Didn't pull anything, but could just feel it. So I stopped immediately.
But today it's killing me again. Nothign like last time, but it's obviously not right.

 

So I think I'm going to have to knock deadlifts on the head for a while.

Anybody know of any decent alternatives that might not put as much strain on my lower back?

[a m ole]

50 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

So been back at the gym a few times since this post. Back has been absolutely fine. Not felt a thing.

But I'd still avoided Deadlifts totally. Done other back work, but not those.

Tried them yesterday for the first time. Stayed light, the most I lifted was 25kg short of what I'd been lifting before, and 50kg short of my old PB. But I could feel my back hurting. Didn't pull anything, but could just feel it. So I stopped immediately.
But today it's killing me again. Nothign like last time, but it's obviously not right.

 

So I think I'm going to have to knock deadlifts on the head for a while.

Anybody know of any decent alternatives that might not put as much strain on my lower back?

rack pulls to avoid the low section? 

[Dr_Pangloss]

Also consider rack pulls above the knee, it's a movement that is wrongly maligned, they are great for back development, I've been doing these for a while. Similar to yourself, my body can no longer handle standard deadlifts at any meaningful weight. I've increasingly struggled with my squat as well, no major injury, just accumulated wear and tear. In fact, at 3 plates I can now bench press close to what my body will allow me to squat.

[Dr_Pangloss]

I'd also add that I think you should think deeply about your goals, are you looking for size, strength or a combination of the two? I'm going to be controversial here but IMO deadlifting is fairly unnecessary for anything other than wanting a strong deadlift. Back size and development can be accommodated through other lifts, such as rack pulls, pull ups and various row variations. I also don't think it adds much more to your squat (if anything) than if you were to simply squat more within a week.

On top of this, I think it is extremely taxing on your CNS and fairly dangerous if you are consistently lifting at 90%+ of your 1RM. BTW I say this as someone who was until fairly recently a hardcore deadlifter  who could pull almost 3x my bodyweight so not one of those who thinks it is an inherently 'bad' or 'dangerous' lift! 

Edited March 19, 2018 by Dr_Pangloss

[Stevo985]

4 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

I'd also add that I think you should think deeply about your goals, are you looking for size, strength or a combination of the two? I'm going to be controversial here but IMO deadlifting is fairly unnecessary for anything other than wanting a strong deadlift. Back size and development can be accommodated through other lifts, such as rack pulls, pull ups and various row variations. I also don't think it adds much more to your squat (if anything) than if you were to simply squat more within a week.

On top of this, I think it is extremely taxing on your CNS and fairly dangerous if you are consistently lifting at 90%+ of your 1RM. BTW I say this as someone who was until fairly recently a hardcore deadlifter  who could pull almost 3x my bodyweight so not one of those who thinks it is an inherently 'bad' or 'dangerous' lift! 

I don't care about numbers. I only care about size. If I could get that with a 10kg deadlift then that would be fine with me  

 

I've done deadlift because I've gotten decent results in the past and I quite enjoy it. But I have no problem in taking it out of my routine, especially if it's hurting me. I'm fairly certain now that it's that lift only the gives me issues. 3 weeks now with no pain and as soon as I go back to it my back hurts.

I do pullups and bent over rows already. Will look into doing  a straight swap with Rack lifts in for deadlifts.

 

Thanks for the posts, both

[a m ole]

no prob mate, haven’t been to the gym in 6 months but I love deadlifts and have one or twice had lower back issues, rack pulls were a good substitute and a wider stance on off the floor lifts helped put more into the legs too

[sexbelowsound]

6 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

So been back at the gym a few times since this post. Back has been absolutely fine. Not felt a thing.

But I'd still avoided Deadlifts totally. Done other back work, but not those.

Tried them yesterday for the first time. Stayed light, the most I lifted was 25kg short of what I'd been lifting before, and 50kg short of my old PB. But I could feel my back hurting. Didn't pull anything, but could just feel it. So I stopped immediately.
But today it's killing me again. Nothign like last time, but it's obviously not right.

 

So I think I'm going to have to knock deadlifts on the head for a while.

Anybody know of any decent alternatives that might not put as much strain on my lower back?

Does your gym have a hex bar? You could also potentially try sumo deadlifts?

They put less strain on the lower back than conventional I think.

[Dr_Pangloss]

Sumo's will shift a lot of the work onto your hamstrings, could be worth a shout, but not advisable if you have tight hamstrings unless you start looking to improve your flexibility. In fact, improving flexibility in general is essential as you get older, most of my injuries have probably been down to me not doing enough stretching. That said, if size is your main goal, it's not clear to me that deadlifts should be a staple at all. 

[Stevo985]

20 minutes ago, sexbelowsound said:

Does your gym have a hex bar? You could also potentially try sumo deadlifts?

They put less strain on the lower back than conventional I think.

It doesn't. Hex bar would have been my first try. Had one of those at my old gym and I really liked it. 

[Stevo985]

14 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Sumo's will shift a lot of the work onto your hamstrings, could be worth a shout, but not advisable if you have tight hamstrings unless you start looking to improve your flexibility. In fact, improving flexibility in general is essential as you get older, most of my injuries have probably been down to me not doing enough stretching. That said, if size is your main goal, it's not clear to me that deadlifts should be a staple at all. 

Just had it as one of my four big compound lifts.

Squats, bench, deadlifts, military press.

Like I said I've no problem dropping it.

 

FYI I'm actually cutting at the moment. The size comment was just about my goals in general.

Edited March 19, 2018 by Stevo985

[JB]

Another one for the ‘WTF are they thinking’ collection... 

A guy in my gym just now was stood up straight with a light barbell held pronated behind him, resting under his ass cheeks. From there, he bent forward at the hips, rounded his upper back and, keeping his arms straight, raised the bar up and back, away from his body. Unless someone can educate me, I’ve no **** clue what he was trying to achieve. I’ve never seen anything remotely like it before. It looked clumsy, awkward and put him in a couple of vulnerable positions. Perhaps it’s something cool I’ve never heard of but from biomechanical standpoint I can’t see what he was hoping to achieve. Would give him a bit of leeway if he was a beginner but from the way he was dressed and holding himself I could tell he’d been around gyms a while. 

On the positive side, rep PRs on front squat (120kg x 4) and RDLs (185kg x 6) these past couple of weeks. 

[Stevo985]

I've had enough of me **** around with the gym. It's probably been a year since I've been anywhere near serious about it and on a regular routine. I just can't settle into the routine of going 3 or 4 times a week regularly again.

 

So I've made a change. I've joined a new gym that is 24 hours and I'm going to go before work.
Planning to go back to the 4 day split routine that I did a couple of years ago that I liked and got decent results on. I'm going to go every day before work and just get it ingrained as part of my daily routine. Will have a cardio day on Wednesday as a rest day from weights and then have the weekend completely off to recover.

Luckily I get up pretty early anyway and usually doss about having breakfast and watching TV, ironing a shirt and stuff before work. So I actually only need to get up about 15 minutes earlier than I do anyway to give me enough time to squeeze in a session before work.

 

First one today and it didn't bother me at all. Feel more awake than I usually do and it feels great not to have to face the gym later when I get back from work. I can just go home and veg out for the night.

 

Hopefully this FINALLY gets me seriously back into it. 10 weeks until I'm next on a beach so that's good motivation to keep it up for that long at least! I'll see how long it lasts  

Edited April 23, 2018 by Stevo985

[Dr_Pangloss]

16 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I've had enough of me **** around with the gym. It's probably been a year since I've been anywhere near serious about it and on a regular routine. I just can't settle into the routine of going 3 or 4 times a week regularly again.

 

So I've made a change. I've joined a new gym that is 24 hours and I'm going to go before work.
Planning to go back to the 4 day split routine that I did a couple of years ago that I liked and got decent results on. I'm going to go every day before work and just get it ingrained as part of my daily routine. Will have a cardio day on Wednesday as a rest day from weights and then have the weekend completely off to recover.

Luckily I get up pretty early anyway and usually doss about having breakfast and watching TV, ironing a shirt and stuff before work. So I actually only need to get up about 15 minutes earlier than I do anyway to give me enough time to squeeze in a session before work.

 

First one today and it didn't bother me at all. Feel more awake than I usually do and it feels great not to have to face the gym later when I get back from work. I can just go home and veg out for the night.

 

Hopefully this FINALLY gets me seriously back into it. 10 weeks until I'm next on a beach so that's good motivation to keep it up for that long at least! I'll see how long it lasts  

I'm jealous, I really cannot work out in the morning, always too exhausted!

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

I'm jealous, I really cannot work out in the morning, always too exhausted!

I'll probably experience this once the novelty wears off. Went to bed relatively early last night in preparation which probably won't last.

I've bought some strong pre workout just in case  

[Stevo985]

23 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

I've bought some strong pre workout just in case  

Took it this morning and don't think I'll be taking it again.

Never had a caffeine rush like it. Made me tingle and itch and I broke out in a rash (which thankfully disappeared after my workout)

 

I'll stick to a large mug of tea or coffee  

[villaglint]

@Stevo985 going back to the deadlift conversation. Have you checked your form either by videoing yourself or having someone watch you to see if there is anything you are doing different or could be doing better. It's really easy to slip into bad habits. 

The other thing to consider is how your mobility is in your lower back. How's your cat/cow for instance? In general life we generally never flex/extend our spine but then ask it to control large weights with the deadlift. So if things aren't moving as they should it'll quickly get shown up. 

As others have said it depends on goals etc and ditching it maybe the best thing for you to do. But if it's highlighting a weakness especially in your back it might be worth addressing for fitness in later life if nothing else. Always better to make a weakness a strength rather than sweep it under the carpet. 

[Stevo985]

Just now, villaglint said:

@Stevo985 going back to the deadlift conversation. Have you checked your form either by videoing yourself or having someone watch you to see if there is anything you are doing different or could be doing better. It's really easy to slip into bad habits. 

The other thing to consider is how your mobility is in your lower back. How's your cat/cow for instance? In general life we generally never flex/extend our spine but then ask it to control large weights with the deadlift. So if things aren't moving as they should it'll quickly get shown up. 

As others have said it depends on goals etc and ditching it maybe the best thing for you to do. But if it's highlighting a weakness especially in your back it might be worth addressing for fitness in later life if nothing else. Always better to make a weakness a strength rather than sweep it under the carpet. 

I have checked my form in the past and it's been pretty solid.

The injury I suffered was bad form. I think I lost my balance and leaned forward slightly meaning I lifted much more with my lower back than I should.
The pain since then has just been the injury not having fully healed.

 

Anyway, I've canned deadlifts now so I'll just happily forget about it  

[Stevo985]

Going to the gym before work has been a **** revelation so far!

It's amazing getting it out of the way right at the start of the day. Now when I leave work I don't have that feeling hanging over me of needing to go to the gym. Or if I work late I don't have the guilt of missing the gym (which I'd gotten pretty used to! )

 

The only day I struggle for motivation on is Wednesday, cardio day. I really hate it.

But every other day I'm enjoying it. Quiet gym, no motivation to skip exercises or leave early (because then I have to go to work!)

I've been every working day for 2 weeks now and enjoying it.

[Davkaus]

I've never been after work, balls to that, it's the last thing I want to do after a long day. 

Just had my first session after a two week break. I've been in there 5 days a week since Christmas and I just needed some time to properly recover from a couple of niggling injuries. 

It was my hypertrophy upper day, and damn, a bench at half of my usual training max shouldn't feel so heavy. I hate taking time out.