The logic of giving them a day each? They're the hardest lifts you do, so you can't squat to your full capacity and then deadlift (at least not once you start getting into it); but if you're doing Romanian ones then you will be alright as they will only supplement your squat.Originally Posted by Magic
And dropping a chest exercise for a shoulder one? I don't squat big time because of my mobility.
I guess 2x12 would be more extreme yeah. I haven't done that much myself, only when my friend is changing what he does to keep things interesting.
You'd benefit from some specific core work like forearm planks then.
I've done my back/piriformis twice now (bentover row/conventional deadlift and running).
I've been doing core exercises to get around this for the past few weeks but terrified of doing it again and losing all progress.
I do dynamic stretches Reg.
http://www.stack.com/a/reducing-tigh...hockey-players
Cool, I do dynamic stretches after jogging as a tennis warm up. Strangely enjoyable.
Try 'dead bug's and some side planks if you feel like changing it up.
Yeah that includes deadbugs. It's helped but still nowhere near my toes lol.
'Inverted hips'. Are you a fucking pony?
I am doing 4*6 by the way mj. I wasn't just being a twat. I do it at 80% capacity.
They supplement one another, and you can't not train your shoulders.
Doesn't the pressing/ups incorporate shoulders?
Not really.
But that's not a major muscle group. I'm only doing major ones (chest/back/legs).
Unreal, I asked for a physio appointment on the 20th of June, I got a letter on the 5th of August to tell me I could make an appointment and the nearest appointment they had was September the 13th.
4 months! Fucking waste of time.
Here's the true horror show of having such an anterior pelvic tilt:
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No wonder I injured myself. Also that's only 30KG+bar. How do I even correct that form? Don't give me this stretching bollocks, I've been doing core stretches for a month and it's no different. I'm genetically fucked, bar years of yoga. Compounded by a lot of driving/sitting and yep.
Should I continue, I think I probably will until I fuck myself again. Bollocks to it.
You need to sit down into it more. Stand a bit wider (and point your toes out slightly), grip the bar an inch wider on each side, and concentrate on pushing through your heels. Even if you have to reduce the weight, you will benefit from slowing the movement down and really thinking about where you are pushing. People think of it as ripping it off the floor with your back, but, apart than keeping it straight, you shouldn't really be activating your back until the final part of the movement.
If I do sit down in to it my back arches even more because of that tilt, that was the lowest I could go whilst kind of keeping my back kind of straight. I find the whole thing hard because as you see I start off not straight but kind of leaning forward. I definitely felt it in the right places though.
If you're disabled then whatever, but if you are ever going to do it then do it like Brian Shaw does it. He's at a natural disadvantage deadlifting because of his height, but he gets right down into it and puts all the strain in his arse.
Very wide stance. Ok I'll try that, and try sitting down more. I can get sort of right angled knees on my squats without buckling. They felt pretty good actually.
*takes video of form*
*oh lol*
I joined a gym a few months back and unsurprisingly it's much better than my home gym. I'm doing Stronglifts and whilst the programme is fine, I'm not making as many gains as I'd like due to time constraints.
The power rack has a full length mirror so I can see my form much easier for squats and deadlifts. I warm up with low weights (my top weights are relatively low anyway) and my form seems fine, then I seem to arch my back too much when doing my top weights.
Should I just reduce the weight and concentrate on form? I watch other people, particularly with the squat, and they all seem to do things differently. Some people go really low and others barely seem to get down far at all.
I'm also thinking I need to do more for my arms rather than just focusing on my core. I use a few of the machines but don't do many free weights.
It's almost like they are doing what suits their own personal requirements or limitations.
Yeah, especially those doing it wrong.
As far as I can see it there's no point in going up in weight unless your form is as good as it can be. The worst thing you can do is arch your back.
You're always going to get a little bit of arching in your last couple of reps (or if you ever bother with a one-rep max), because you are close to your limits, but you don't want it through the full set. As for squats, you have to get to at least parallel. Not just because it isn't a proper squat if you don't, but because doing so takes the strain off your knees. The burden is on your arse and hips at the bottom of a squat, and you push up through your heels; where as If you do these half-rep squats then all of the weight shoots straight into your knees and stays there until you have pushed it back up.
I was going to take that photo of Magic and photoshop in Stone Cold giving him a stunner but my photoshop skills aren't good enough and I can't be arsed so you'll just have to imagine it instead.
Is that before or after you've shot your load over it?
That's reassuring. I only really arch a little when I'm doing my top sets and at the back end of them. But with the Stronglift programme you only do 1x5 at your top weight anyway for deadlifts. For squats I do get parallel otherwise it feels pointless, but I think I go down a bit too slowly. I see other people barely going down much at all, but that allows them to keep their back straighter.
Slow and controlled is best. If you can't get parallel then you can't get parallel. Maybe a smith machine or whatever the leg press thing is called would be better?
Does anyone do pyramid training? I had a look at some 'novice' workouts, which involved:
10 reps at lightest, going all the way to 1xheaviest
Also the inverse of that.
I couldn't be bothered with 10 sets of anything, even if each is a rep less, so I did 3x8 but the first at a lesser weight, then a medium, then full. It felt good, not sure if it's better at 3x8 of the heaviest you can physically do whilst bearing in mind 3 sets of it though.
@Lewis, I dropped the incline and press ups (which were already part of my warm up) and stuck in overhead press. Lol @ how weak my shoulders are. I struggled with 5kg on each dumbbell.
Feels good, man. Looking forward to trying the light, medium, heavy sets on squats and deadlifts tomorrow.
There's too much bollocks weight training about these days. Pick up and put down progressively heavy weight. Job done.
Diet and lifestyle is much more important than fucking around with Pyramids snd Supersets.
After 1 month:Here's the true horror show of having such an anterior pelvic tilt:
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No wonder I injured myself. Also that's only 30KG+bar. How do I even correct that form? Don't give me this stretching bollocks, I've been doing core stretches for a month and it's no different. I'm genetically fucked, bar years of yoga. Compounded by a lot of driving/sitting and yep.
Should I continue, I think I probably will until I fuck myself again. Bollocks to it.
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Yung scoliosis
How is it feeling?After 1 month:
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Like a young Mert.
It feels great. I still have very limited flexibility but enough now to maintain good form and increase weight.
I've added in chest fly to my workout.
Upper body:
Chest press
Chest fly
Reverse press up
Bent over row
Overhead press
Single arm upright row
Lower body:
Squat
Deadlift
Lunges
Unsure as to how often I should be hitting the gym. I do biking on between too.
Any tips?
Push, pull, legs. Each 2x a week. So 6 gym sessions, and then bike to your black coal of a heart's content on the 7th day.
Fuck that.
Don't do that. Rest.
Lower body, upper body, rest.
My nice lesbian colleague got some weights delivered to work so I helped her carry them to her house in exchange for a pint. There was 30KG in the box, I'm guessing that means I'm ripped now right?
Upper body, lower body. Two days of cycling taking it easy and one you go balls out.
You don't really need rest days, you just need to change up muscle groups. Having days dedicated to not doing anything slows everything down. Just make sure you don't work upper back twice in 3 days and you'll be fine
That's not true. Your body needs general rest as well as certain muscles. You will exhaust yourself if you often work 7 days a week.
It really depends on Magic's goals; how your body will begin to change will depend on reps over the week (basically, days in the gym) and reps per session.
Without meaning to preach to the converted, I've always been a fan of variations of powerlifting routines (5/3/1,5x5,MadCow etc.) which go in for full body workouts 3/4 times a week and I've never had a problem with hypertrophy. One of the biggest mistakes I find made is a reluctance to take rest days and eventually, more time in the gym just results in diminishing returns.
@Magic - As Lewis said, you've got too much faff and not enough shoulders, so taking a cue from the programmes above you could do either of the below:
Option 1
Day 1 - Volume Squat/Volume Flat Bench/Volume Pendlay Row
Day 3 - Light Squat/Heavy Overhead Press/Heavy Deadlift
Day 5 - Heavy Squat/Heavy Flat Bench/Heavy Pendlay Row
Heavy = 1 x 3 @ 95% of your 3-rep max; increase every Heavy session
Volume = 5x5 @ 80% of your last Heavy session
Light = 2 x 5 @ 60% of your last Heavy session
Throw in some accessory movements on 3 and 5 and do abs on 1, 3 and 5 and you'll be golden, particularly cycling too.
Oh, yeah; keep a spreadsheet.
Option 2
Day 1 - Heavy Squat/Volume accessory work for shoulders
Day 2 - Heavy Bench/Volume accessory work for back
Day 4 - Heavy Barbell Row/Volume accessory work for chest
Day 5 - Heavy Overhead Press/Volume accessory work for legs
Heavy = 5x5 @ 95% of your 3-rep max, increase every Heavy session
Volume = 3 x 8-12 reps on whatever you feel like
I've quite honestly made-up the ordering of the accessory work, but you can sort that out.
If it's helpful, I'll ping across some spreadsheets so all the weights are worked out for you.
Incredible post. Repped. I'm liking Option 1. Will have a look in greater detail tonight.
Presumably you need monster warm ups for that sort of routine?
Also not sure about Pendlay. My hamstrings are very tight and I fucked my back doing bent over rows last time.
The warm-up is generally 3/4 sets steadily ramping up from around 60-80% of the max you're working to, so each workout should only take around an hour or so as long as you don't take the piss with rest periods.
I'll send across my spreadsheet for Madcow (which that template essentially is) tomorrow; just enter your 3-rep max for the weights and it will work everything out for you.
On the Pendlay rows, that's fine; just bend your knees enough so that the bar is on the floor and put the weight in your heels.
I'll give it a bash, just absolutely terrified of injuring myself (pullin glute or whatever it is) that I've had twice now. I don't have anyone to correct my form apart from a front-facing camera on my phone.
Also my overhead press is absolute lol. I do 10kg dumbbells 3x8 and I really struggle.
Can you be more specific on the accessory lifts?
Wait, the warm up is what now?
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