Gym Routine

[BOF]

Just now, Stevo985 said:

For goodness sake NEVER lock your legs on the leg press.

That is literally the first thing you should ever learn about that machine.

[Dr_Pangloss]

46 minutes ago, BOF said:

I see The LAD Bible have a video of a guy breaking his leg on a leg press machine.  Nope, won't be clicking that.  Man I've gone soft in my old age.

It's one of the most abused exercises I see, and I myself have been guilty of it. Guys just love to load obscene amounts of plates on it and do 1/4 to 1/2 reps. I literally halved the amount of plates I used to load on and go for quality, going very deep and varying foot placement, as a result my legs have developed better. 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Dr_Pangloss

[Dom_Wren]

Nowt but regular doms, from my my first lift back, happy with that, although i capped bench at 6 x 225lbs instead of 2 x 315lbs. my rule of thumb is for every week i take off, it takes that amount of time to work my way back up to where i was before stopping.

 

[Dr_Pangloss]

Experimented with the squat a lot over the last 5 or 6 weeks and have had some really good gains, I'm now able to nail 160kg x 3 for 4-5 sets. 

New things I've been doing are as follows:

I've been squatting 'heavy' twice a week, i.e. in the 3-5 rep range per working set. 

Added Zercher Squats to my routine - great accessory lift that has strengthened my posterior chain a lot. 

Added Barbell Hack Squats.

Dropped the weight dramatically on leg press and focused on quality - going as deep as possible and doing high reps 15-20 range. 

Ditched leg extensions - has no benefit to the squat IMO, also IMO jeopardises the patellar tendon, knees have felt healthier since I stopped doing this.

Added ab and calf work into my routine - stronger calves can help with stability on the squat, so I've been told, perhaps some truth in it. 

 

Edited March 30, 2017 by Dr_Pangloss

[BOF]

46 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

Ditched leg extensions - has no benefit to the squat IMO, also IMO jeopardises the patellar tendon, knees have felt healthier since I stopped doing this.

At 07:58 this guy has leg extensions as one of the worst 5 exercises "(stop doing them)".

 

 

 

[Stevo985]

I've only ever done leg extensions as a warmup exercise. I think it's something I'd really struggle to do properly with heavy weight. 

[Dr_Pangloss]

Definitely seems stupid to do with a lot of weight. I personally did them with low weight, high reps and with a pause at the top of the movement. But even then I think that's largely pointless, but would be interested to see what the bodybuilders among us think. 

[sexbelowsound]

I've also seen a lot about the leg extension being dangerous but with low weight you can really feel the upper part of the quads working so I still incorporate it.

Someone tried to show me that video yesterday before I went to the gym. When you get on the machine though you wonder how or why anyone would lock out. The tension has completely gone at that point.

[BOF]

I imagine they lock out in order to rest mid-rep, as the tension is gone as you say.  A little (stupid) breather.

[sexbelowsound]

14 minutes ago, BOF said:

I imagine they lock out in order to rest mid-rep, as the tension is gone as you say.  A little (stupid) breather.

Yeah, I'd assume so but if you're putting a gyms worth of plates on the machine you're asking for trouble.

Just rack the bloody thing.

[Dr_Pangloss]

Learned the hard way that 'pushing yourself' isn't always a good idea. Today was supposed to be the day I'd bench 122.5kg for 5 sets of 3 but after some awful nights sleep, waking up, bizarrely with a sore rotator cuff I really shouldn't have bothered, buried myself under the weight on my first set (third rep) with no spotter, so had to wriggle my way under it. Didn't help that the only available bar was a really thick one, I only bench with thin bars, thick ones tend to put a lot of strain on my wrists, and predictably it was my left wrist which gave out on the set, although I was just lacking any real energy and drive to begin with, 

After that embarrassment I dropped the weight down to 100kg and did 4 easy sets of 6 and then left the gym. Didn't have the mental focus to finish the work out.

Edited April 1, 2017 by Dr_Pangloss

[Stevo985]

Stronglifts still going well for me. Still progressing on most things, OHP excepted. 

Squats are up to 130kg which is the heaviest I've squatted in a long time. Still 20kg short of my PB but I'll get there. 

It's a proper slog now though. Often takes me two sessions to get a full 5x5 out and I'm taking the full 3 minutes rest between every working set of squats. It takes every ounce out of me. The sessions when that's followed by deadlifts leaves me absolutely ****.
Enjoying it though. More than I've enjoyed the gym in a long time, and I know I've put on a decent amount of muscle too.

 

Need to sort the diet out though. Meant to be losing fat at the moment and I've managed to put weight on instead.

[Stevo985]

You know what annoys me in the gym? When you're using a squat rack and someone comes up and takes the weights off it. Not the weight your squatting, but the spare plates on the rack.

I might need them! At least **** ask.

[Dom_Wren]

14 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

You know what annoys me in the gym? When you're using a squat rack and someone comes up and takes the weights off it. Not the weight your squatting, but the spare plates on the rack.

I might need them! At least **** ask.

the what rack?

[Stevo985]

Back up to a 3 PPS deadlift for me. It's been a while since I've lifted that (140kg). Felt relatively comfortable though. Confident I have more left in me on deadlift. Next stop, break my 170 PB. 

It helps that deadlift are only one working set on stronglifts. 

 

Squats on the other hand stalled massively. Hit 130kg but couldn't manage 5x5 on any day. Managed 5 sets of 3 but that was it. And it took every ounce I had to make that. Failed 3 sessions in a row so deloaded to 115kg and will work my way back up. But to be fair I made the 115kg for 5x5 yesterday but I was right on the edge. 

I think I'm fatiguing badly on squats. 3 times a week at this sort of weight is killing me. 

Other lifts are going well. Bench is up to 90kg, same for BB row. OHP is at 60kg.

 

Cutting hard now with a holiday coming up so progress will probably stall for the next couple of months.

Edited May 6, 2017 by Stevo985

[V01]

Isnt 4 PPS 180kgs?! 

 

Either way you're doing well. 

 

I'm struggling at the minute, no set routine at work until I've passed my probation period is causing me a few scheduling issues. Moved back to StrongLifts for the meantime so I'm getting a full body every workout. Had to skip 6 weeks of lower body with a knee injury so I started squat, bench and row at 60, deadlift at 100 and ohp at 40, the lifts aren't any easier but I'm recovering quicker in between sets. 

Edited May 6, 2017 by V01
Fat fingers

[Dr_Pangloss]

I've spent the last week focusing on one rep maxes. Managed to hit 132.5kg raw bench (nearly hit 135kg but failed) and a 175kg squat (belt plus knee sleeves). This followed from a fairly lengthy period of working in the 3 rep range. 

Happy with these lifts, but the heavy lifting has taken it's toll on my joints so time to mix it up. I'm going to do 5-6 weeks of 'German Volume Training' (https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/german-volume-training.htm). First session today was fairly brutal, 80kg bench 10 x 10 took a lot of gas out of me, although confident I can go up by 2.5kg next time. Some obvious things I noticed was that I was almost out of breath throughout the workout, as my heart rate was operating at a higher level than I am used to, being a lower rep lifter. Squats tomorrow aren't something I'm looking forward to as I'm really not good at high rep squats at all, I imagine I'll start at something like 90kg for 10 x 10 and see how that goes. 

I expect to be doing 90kg 10 x 10 bench and 100kg 10 x 10 squat by the end of it but we will see. Also expecting to gain muscle mass as this is a much higher volume than I ever do, and potentially lose some body fat due to the higher heart rate this sort of training induces, making it similar to cardio in that respect. Will probably crank up the calories somewhat as well for this. 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Dr_Pangloss

[Stevo985]

11 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said:

I've spent the last week focusing on one rep maxes. Managed to hit 132.5kg raw bench (nearly hit 135kg but failed) and a 175kg squat (belt plus knee sleeves). This followed from a fairly lengthy period of working in the 3 rep range. 

Happy with these lifts, but the heavy lifting has taken it's toll on my joints so time to mix it up. I'm going to do 5-6 weeks of 'German Volume Training' (https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/german-volume-training.htm). First session today was fairly brutal, 80kg bench 10 x 10 took a lot of gas out of me, although confident I can go up by 2.5kg next time. Some obvious things I noticed was that I was almost out of breath throughout the workout, as my heart rate was operating at a higher level than I am used to, being a lower rep lifter. Squats tomorrow aren't something I'm looking forward to as I'm really not good at high rep squats at all, I imagine I'll start at something like 90kg for 10 x 10 and see how that goes. 

I expect to be doing 90kg 10 x 10 bench and 100kg 10 x 10 squat by the end of it but we will see. Also expecting to gain muscle mass as this is a much higher volume than I ever do, and potentially lose some body fat due to the higher heart rate this sort of training induces, making it similar to cardio in that respect. Will probably crank up the calories somewhat as well for this. 

I did GVT last year. It's brutal, and boring, but it definitely worked.

My only advice is to start at low weight. I was surprised at how low I had to go to manage the reps required.

[Stevo985]

3 hours ago, V01 said:

Isnt 4 PPS 180kgs?! 

 

Typo, sorry. I was on my phone.

3 PPS was what I lifted. 4 PPS is the next goal. That woudl break my previous PB

[Dr_Pangloss]

16 minutes ago, Stevo985 said:

I did GVT last year. It's brutal, and boring, but it definitely worked.

My only advice is to start at low weight. I was surprised at how low I had to go to manage the reps required.

Do you go back to a lower rep routine after? If so did you notice any difference? i.e. had you become stronger or weaker on the big lifts? 

Must admit I found it fun today, mainly cos it's something new and radically different than I've done before. My only worry is that my bench and squats become weaker at lower reps as a result, but then, if I gain more mass that will make it easier to deal with.