Gym & Misc General Health and Fitness Thread

[Purple7x08_24]

A good way is to fail. But I haven't failed in a couple of years. I just don't like the hoo har from people in the gym when you do fail lifts.

I might try 150 this weekend just to fail again

The beauty of this program is you do the first week and it's brutal in terms of being fatigued. You rest two days for week two and you're feeling better.

for example, I pushed hard for 95KG X 5 reps on Saturday but could have got 100, and if not, I could have got the next week doing 5 reps again. I'm only doing 80 this week, but I'm optimistic I can get at least 110 for 5.

When I did this for bench press, I was peaking out at 32Kg DB for 5 reps. You start low, so I started at 26KG and increased each week. When I got to the 32, I did it well but not enough to confidently say I'm going to blitz 34KG. But after the 3rd workout you just seem to get up for the next week. I got to 42 X 3 for DB Bench.

It's got everything. You have your build up for the 5 reps, then it's volume with light weight and then pyramid with the back end really pushing you hard with light weight. By the end, you've increased your endurance, 5 rep range, 10 rep range, and built muscle.

At the end you can look at a high weight low rep range workout.

 

[Purple7x08_24]

You occasionally run into people like that.
Can remember when I was living in the States a couple of girls (I say girls but they were both late 30s) joined our training crew. They squatted with us and 1 in particular I was like holy s**t what was that. Checked online and she had squatted 10kg over the WR at that time with a safety squat bar to a low box. Few weeks later she broke the all time record in the 60kg class.
Just checked online now and in the 60kg class she’s squatted over 200, benched 120 & deadlifted 227.5kg. In September she totalled 545kg at 47 years old weighing 65kg.

Susan Salazar

The OpenPowerlifting project aims to create a permanent, accurate, convenient, accessible, open archive of the world's powerlifting data.

www.openpowerlifting.org

Pretty big lifts but imo I have doubts over her being natty. Both girls I listed are probably natty and that impresses me more. There are quite a few local powerlifters here in Aus that I follow, and trainers etc who are squatting in the 120-150 range which is also impressive given their weight and clearly natty.

 

[Coolangatta]

Just a question on leg volume.

So I'm good for upper body weekly: 4 Floor Press sets (1 heavy AMRAP, 3 back off, last set AMRAP); 4 OHP (same system as floor press); 3 DB Incline Bench 6-10 reps; 3 DB Bench 6-10 reps. That's 14 sets, that's per week not session haha. IDC what anyone says it's good enough for me and I actually enjoy doing these exercises.

But lower body is a different story. 4 Trap Bar DL sets, these are done with low handles (same system as floor and OHP); 4 Zercher squat sets (same system as other compounds). That's just 8 sets. Personally, I don't like doing lunges or reverse lunges or any single leg work. Doesn't feel right, doesn't feel comfortable, they're just... yeah nah.

My back off sets are only 15% off so still pretty challenging. Going for PRs every lift on the big ones keeps me motivated.

Single leg stuff is not for me, sorry I don't think they're essential but I may listen to the pros around here. I was thinking of going for a few extra trap bar sets, 5x10 @ 50% (this is easy to work into a weekend cardio session).

I consider it leg work. Zercher's are one of those exercises I hate doing but love the results/strength/feeling. Hard pass on doing them 2x a week, though, been there, done that.

Back is fine, I do BB Rows and DB Rows and good old curls -- need to do pull ups eventually, though. But either way the Zercher's and Trap Bar do work your back.

Abs are fine, 50-100 leg raises.

It's just legs, my volume is too low, right? Even in low volume Wendler templates it looks like you at least hit 11 sets a week of leg work in them.I guess my concern more so is how much the trap bar is leg work. I certainly feel it in my legs as I do bend my knees more.

I like the trap bar, just wanted a second opinion. No real biggie if I leave out the single leg stuff, right? It always kind of felt like I was cheating with those anyway, not getting a full ROM, the right balance and all that.

Now single leg step ups on a box I'd probably try, maybe something for later on down the line.

They say do what you enjoy so that's my main priority, it's not so much that I don't have the mental fortitude for the boring/extra stuff but it's just a pain in the ass changing dumbbells and barbells and what not, limited space etc and it just ends up taking too long. I've gotta keep it under an hour or I'd end up late for work (no way am I gonna do a workout in the evening/night).

 

[Kram]

I would do about 14 sets a week of compound leg lifts.

Squats, leg press and barbell forward lunges.

 

[Coolangatta]

I would do about 14 sets a week of compound leg lifts.

Squats, leg press and barbell forward lunges.

Yeah, I hear you, just wondering if low handle trap bar would count. I’ll settle for 13 sets with a 5x10 day.

P.S. Goggins is the man.

 

[The Golden Glenferrie]

4 x heavy squats, high bar, Olympic style ATG
4 x heavy leg press
4 x leg extension
Stiff RDLS to rip your hammies apart.

Done

 

[Purple7x08_24]

Just a question on leg volume.

So I'm good for upper body weekly: 4 Floor Press sets (1 heavy AMRAP, 3 back off, last set AMRAP); 4 OHP (same system as floor press); 3 DB Incline Bench 6-10 reps; 3 DB Bench 6-10 reps. That's 14 sets, that's per week not session haha. IDC what anyone says it's good enough for me and I actually enjoy doing these exercises.

But lower body is a different story. 4 Trap Bar DL sets, these are done with low handles (same system as floor and OHP); 4 Zercher squat sets (same system as other compounds). That's just 8 sets. Personally, I don't like doing lunges or reverse lunges or any single leg work. Doesn't feel right, doesn't feel comfortable, they're just... yeah nah.

My back off sets are only 15% off so still pretty challenging. Going for PRs every lift on the big ones keeps me motivated.

Single leg stuff is not for me, sorry I don't think they're essential but I may listen to the pros around here. I was thinking of going for a few extra trap bar sets, 5x10 @ 50% (this is easy to work into a weekend cardio session).

I consider it leg work. Zercher's are one of those exercises I hate doing but love the results/strength/feeling. Hard pass on doing them 2x a week, though, been there, done that.

Back is fine, I do BB Rows and DB Rows and good old curls -- need to do pull ups eventually, though. But either way the Zercher's and Trap Bar do work your back.

Abs are fine, 50-100 leg raises.

It's just legs, my volume is too low, right? Even in low volume Wendler templates it looks like you at least hit 11 sets a week of leg work in them.I guess my concern more so is how much the trap bar is leg work. I certainly feel it in my legs as I do bend my knees more.

I like the trap bar, just wanted a second opinion. No real biggie if I leave out the single leg stuff, right? It always kind of felt like I was cheating with those anyway, not getting a full ROM, the right balance and all that.

Now single leg step ups on a box I'd probably try, maybe something for later on down the line.

They say do what you enjoy so that's my main priority, it's not so much that I don't have the mental fortitude for the boring/extra stuff but it's just a pain in the ass changing dumbbells and barbells and what not, limited space etc and it just ends up taking too long. I've gotta keep it under an hour or I'd end up late for work (no way am I gonna do a workout in the evening/night).

I don't have enough experience to know. I just know the workout I used has all the sets and weights defined from your 1RM. It's a lot of sets but it's all about the weight and reps.

Today I did workout 1.3 and it was tough and I'm really burned out in the legs which is not something you can generally get from 5X5 type workouts. I have a little bit of a strain in the upper leg but expected given I've changed my technique to stop driving my knees forward. I'm going to need a few days recovery before starting the next one.

Focused on depth and had a half second pause on every rep. It was brutal coming back up from stationary position.

 

[Glorfindel]

It's just legs, my volume is too low, right?

The science on these things isn’t exact.
It could be too low, high or perfect.
Bit of a vague answer but my recommendation would be to give it a go for 12-16 weeks and see what progress you make.

 

[Kram]

I would do about 14 sets a week of compound leg lifts.

Squats, leg press and barbell forward lunges.

Also 6 sets of seated leg curls. Calf raises usually on upper body days.

 

[Kram]

Yeah, I hear you, just wondering if low handle trap bar would count. I’ll settle for 13 sets with a 5x10 day.

P.S. Goggins is the man.

 

[Coolangatta]

The science on these things isn’t exact.
It could be too low, high or perfect.
Bit of a vague answer but my recommendation would be to give it a go for 12-16 weeks and see what progress you make.

I got a 5x10 trap bar @50% in today plus some abs and curly fries.

Was good, reckon I would’ve struggled if I went for German volume 10x10 even at 50%. Could ramp up the sets over time though.

The idea being if for whatever reason (I get dust mite migraines sometimes so it can **** up the routine a bit) I only end up doing 1 session for the week, I could do 10x10 Zercher or trap bar, 50-100 reps rows and 10 sets compound upper body. I can always make time on a Saturday or Sunday if I have to.

But I’m trying to aim from now on a minimum of 10 compound lift sets each on upper and lower body. The rest is a bonus/fun.

But best case scenario is 3x a week of the usual and get some extra stuff done on a Saturday.

 

[revival_mode]

gonna give 75 hard a go

been pretty good with working out / running / calorie intake for a while now and wanna go to another level

35 days in, so nearly half way
feeling pretty good, some days can be a bit of a pain but that's been due to my mismanagement of time

its supposed to be 75 days of:

• 45 min workout
• 45 min workout (outside)
• 10 pages reading (non fiction)
• drink 1 gallon of water
• follow diet
• no cheat meals or alcohol

i listened to the podcast where the guy who made the thing spoke about it, typical douchebag yank. its supposed to be a mental toughness thing, not a fitness thing but obviously there's benefits for your fitness. if you **** up a day you're meant to start the whole thing over.
i havent been going that much water - just ensure i am taking in a decent amount. been good to have a goal to stick to re no alcohol - actually been easy so far. also havent made sure one workout has been outside but have been doing both so whatever

been doing PPL work outs 6 days a week & down 5 kgs, probably want to go another 5 then try and gain weight/muscle after

 

[burge13]

35 days in, so nearly half way
feeling pretty good, some days can be a bit of a pain but that's been due to my mismanagement of time

its supposed to be 75 days of:

• 45 min workout
• 45 min workout (outside)
• 10 pages reading (non fiction)
• drink 1 gallon of water
• follow diet
• no cheat meals or alcohol

i listened to the podcast where the guy who made the thing spoke about it, typical douchebag yank. its supposed to be a mental toughness thing, not a fitness thing but obviously there's benefits for your fitness. if you utensil up a day you're meant to start the whole thing over.
i havent been going that much water - just ensure i am taking in a decent amount. been good to have a goal to stick to re no alcohol - actually been easy so far. also havent made sure one workout has been outside but have been doing both so whatever

been doing PPL work outs 6 days a week & down 5 kgs, probably want to go another 5 then try and gain weight/muscle after

Good work

 

[conrad_437]

35 days in, so nearly half way
feeling pretty good, some days can be a bit of a pain but that's been due to my mismanagement of time

its supposed to be 75 days of:

• 45 min workout
• 45 min workout (outside)
• 10 pages reading (non fiction)
• drink 1 gallon of water
• follow diet
• no cheat meals or alcohol

i listened to the podcast where the guy who made the thing spoke about it, typical douchebag yank. its supposed to be a mental toughness thing, not a fitness thing but obviously there's benefits for your fitness. if you utensil up a day you're meant to start the whole thing over.
i havent been going that much water - just ensure i am taking in a decent amount. been good to have a goal to stick to re no alcohol - actually been easy so far. also havent made sure one workout has been outside but have been doing both so whatever

been doing PPL work outs 6 days a week & down 5 kgs, probably want to go another 5 then try and gain weight/muscle after

It's definitely a great challenge for anyone to partake in. Really, it's about building really beneficial habits and ensuring they can be mostly sustainable over the long term. Obviously no sane person is going be able to follow the main metrics of this challenge for a huge length of time, and it would be borderline unhealthy to be that obsessive over it. But by completing this challenge, it'll be much easier for someone to generally keep these good habits in a more sustainable way. You'd be far more likely to follow a consistent schedule of going to the gym, walking, running, generally eating healthy, reading regularly and not binge drinking as much as you may have.

The challenge isn't something I am looking to try just yet, as I feel like I've got a fairly healthy balance of everything at the moment (exercising more than ever, have begun to regularly read and drinking heaps of water). Diet definitely needs work though. The challenge is definitely great for people needing a reset, or just to feeling the need to push themselves out of their comfort zone.

 

[revival_mode]

It's definitely a great challenge for anyone to partake in. Really, it's about building really beneficial habits and ensuring they can be mostly sustainable over the long term. Obviously no sane person is going be able to follow the main metrics of this challenge for a huge length of time, and it would be borderline unhealthy to be that obsessive over it. But by completing this challenge, it'll be much easier for someone to generally keep these good habits in a more sustainable way. You'd be far more likely to follow a consistent schedule of going to the gym, walking, running, generally eating healthy, reading regularly and not binge drinking as much as you may have.

The challenge isn't something I am looking to try just yet, as I feel like I've got a fairly healthy balance of everything at the moment (exercising more than ever, have begun to regularly read and drinking heaps of water). Diet definitely needs work though. The challenge is definitely great for people needing a reset, or just to feeling the need to push themselves out of their comfort zone.

100% mate, thats basically what i am using it for. build a bit more consistency really. some of it is piss easy, some a bit harder. I'm someone who already ate well, and did weights/ran.
having a goal for the no alcohol things has been good for me. i'm not a big drinker anyway but was having them plenty when not really even needed eg sunday afternoon.
its working for me so far, would recommend

 

[revival_mode]

Last day of 75 hard. been good. I'm going to keep on with it as much as a can but will lax up for a little bit. Will basically keep going until the end of the month then not bother while on an overseas holiday and do it again when we get beck.

I did fail - had a cheeky margarita on day 73 as we were out for my birthday. worst part is it was a piss poor drink and I was just annoyed. Anyway, didn't count lol

Dropped about 8kg in all. General fitness has definitely improved. ran a 10k last night & felt better doing that than I have for quite a while

 

[Kram]

I drank a carton of beer over the weekend lol. And a pepperoni pizza.

Still fronted up for a light leg session on Sunday though.

 

[k31th]

I have two questions that came to mind the other day...

Does breathing properly in the gym, e.g. In time and strong outwards on the weight movement bit of the repetition, dry your mouth out? It certainly does for me so I'm constantly sipping on my water bottle to prevent the detrimental effects of the dry mouth.

Are there never enough benches in a gym? It doesn't seem to matter what time I go, if there's any sort of crowd, they go for the benches haha

 

[Bonz]

Well after doing the world cup and a Grand Prix, decided after over 25 years if fencing I am finally trying to change sports.

I have done boxing for fitness for over 3 years now, and coached as a group trainer at a UBX, BUT real boxing at an actual boxing gym with a mix of high level amateurs and pros is broken

Got absolutely smashed last night in just under an hour.



I was pretty confident in my conditioning (jog each morning, would do 90 minute fencing sessions 5 days a week and do 3 additional strength/ core sessions along with a class of Pilates.

Tad bubbling and exciting to try my next goal.

 

[Themanbun]

I stopped lifting properly in 2018 after a brain injury and a couple of knee recos. The last fortnight I've had some time off footy and so thought I'd catch back up with the research and smash the gym for a bit. I've also since gone vegetarian and stupidly had not supplemented with creatine monohydrate, which I will address in a month or so.

I must say I'm pretty amazed at the developments in the scientific literature in the time I've been away from it. Some of this stuff was just breaking when I stopped looking at it and now it's firmly entrenched knowledge:


• frequency > bro splits
• that muscles can handle a lot more volume than we thought
• the 8-12 hypertrophy range has been blown right open
• super high protein intakes are not necessary
• body recomposition has been shown to be possible, though slightly less efficient, even for trained athletes
• that DOMS has little correlation to actual gains

I've had 12 workouts in this 14 day space. My old lift 1RMs were bench 127.5kg, deadlift 185kg, and squat 140kg.

I started out a fortnight ago with bench 60kg X 5, squat 60kg X 5 and RDL 40kg X 5.

Managed to get those badboys back up to squat 110kg X 5, RDL 100 X 5 and bench 85 X 5.

Muscle memory is an amazing thing.

 

[Glorfindel]

Well after doing the world cup and a Grand Prix, decided after over 25 years if fencing I am finally trying to change sports.

I have done boxing for fitness for over 3 years now, and coached as a group trainer at a UBX, BUT real boxing at an actual boxing gym with a mix of high level amateurs and pros is broken

Got absolutely smashed last night in just under an hour.

View attachment 2012602View attachment 2012603

I was pretty confident in my conditioning (jog each morning, would do 90 minute fencing sessions 5 days a week and do 3 additional strength/ core sessions along with a class of Pilates.

Tad bubbling and exciting to try my next goal.

Conditioning tends to count for little once you get clocked in the face a few times lol.
I sparred with the Moloney twins for a few years and although they didn’t have heavy hands it would start to add up after a few dozen passed your guard.

 

[the_interloper]

Conditioning tends to count for little once you get clocked in the face a few times lol.
I sparred with the Moloney twins for a few years no although they didn’t have heavy hands it would start to add up after a few dozen passed your guard.

Woah that's awesome. And yeah they aren't known as heavy hitters but very skillful as well and cardio machines, I'm sure it wasn't much fun but you would have learnt shitloads

 

[Glorfindel]

Woah that's awesome. And yeah they aren't known as heavy hitters but very skillful as well and cardio machines, I'm sure it wasn't much fun but you would have learnt shitloads

At least learnt that most people who think they can fight/box really can’t
Also that speed seems to be the biggest difference between the pretty good boxers and the really good boxers.

 

[Couch Coach]

Does anyone have any recomendations for a pushup app?

I've been doing the pushup challange (which is about to end) using their app to help my mental health and gain some fitness in my 40's. I used to hate pushups but I'm now starting to like them.

Thanks all.

 

[Kram]

Swam every day I've been in Perth this week, good to finally get some solid cardio in which should transfer some benefits to lifting when I go back home.