Weightlifting people, here! Ongoing chat thread...

I am not in the mood to go to the gym for my HIIT circuits. I am packing and changing hotels today. I think maybe I'll just swim later on at the new hotel.

Another voluminous session this morn.

Back squats: 3 x 10 x 60kg
Hack squats: 4 x 6 x 60kg (first time on these, didn't like them, weight kept being on my toes? maybe because I was in my squat shoes)
Leg press: 4 x 10 x 110kg (first time on these for a while, loved them. I like to have my feet right up at the top and sides of the plate so I feel a good stretch in hamstrings)

Barbell strict overhead press: 5 x 6 x 30kg
Incline barbell press: 4 x 5 x 40kg
Seated cable row: 4 x 10 x 32 kg
Assisted pull ups: 3 x 6, then 2 x 5

I know exactly what you mean about the not being able to "cheat." It goes up or it doesn't.

Yes, that's a big difference. 2.5kg extra feels way heavier than it should on a barbell overhead press, and that's a much smaller increment proportionally.

I'm paranoid that it looks like I was implying Just cheats on her shoulder presses! I wasn't - I just know that if I'm feeling less than tip-top, with some lifts I can still manage to grind my way to the end of the set with less than strict form. But not with shoulder presses. Exposing is a good way of putting it.

Thanks for the resistance band tip Maid! Good luck in the marathon!

Good luck Maid! Let us know how you get on! You might surprise yourself.

I think some days are like that Just - or they are in my experience. Maybe you're right and you are still a bit tired from yesterday (well done with your RDL PB!). Also I think with shoulder presses it's hard to cheat - the weight's either going up or it's not, you can't really use body momentum like with a lateral raise or row or similar. And, you're working comparatively small muscle groups so there aren't really any others you can recruit to help when those ones get tired.

I need to start building in more shoulder work. I used to do a big strict barbell OHP set once a week but it's fallen off the radar recently.

Good luck, maidofstars!

I had a weak day at the gym today. Two weeks ago I did overhead dumbbell presses 12kg x 8 reps for three sets. In the interim, I worked out at gyms that had 12.5kg dumbbells, and didn't think too much about the fact that I was only getting 6 reps. Today I was using 12kg wasn't able to do more than 6 reps.

I did, however, try to lift 14kg and was (barely) able to do 2 reps.

I'm not sure why my lifts were weak today. I'm trying to eat more and I slept enough.

Do you suppose my awesome leg day yesterday, where I went my heaviest yet on Romanian deadlifts, may have drained me slightly?

actually that's a great idea Maid - must remember to try it.

You're welcome! Let me know how you get on. I'm not a natural squatter myself, so have had to really work on it.

Thanks Findo, that's really helpful

Knee valgus (one or both knees caving) is a pretty common problem in the back squat - the culprit is thought to be weak gluteus medius and there are exercises you can do for that long term - but if you really concentrate on getting your knees tracking over your toes (I find it helps to imagine I'm splitting the floor apart with my feet) it should help. But it does happen to a lot of people, me included, as the weight gets heavier.

Depth-wise but I always aim to go lower than parallel in the back squat. In powerlifting comps you fail the lift if your hip crease isn't lower than your knee. Going lower obviously makes the lift harder, so naturally you'll need to drop the weight a bit at first, but it won't be long before you're progressing again.

Hi everyone

That sounds like a great session Findo.

Quick question please. Today in my session my trainer encouraged me to try going lower on my back squats, as I wasn't going parallel to the ground.

I had to reduce the weight on the bar by a fair bit as my right knee seems to cave in a bit when I go a bit lower.

Is it best just to try to build up again from a lower weight, and always go lower?

I do seem to naturally gravitate towards very volume-y (voluminous?!) sessions. But also today I had to drive to the gym instead of cycle like I usually do so I had more time and energy - I don't usually do quite that much.

Wow, Findoyou do a lot of volume!

oh yeah, it didn't look much fun on the film either. I do love gold top milk though.

This morning:
Romanian deadlifts
5 x 10 x 60kg
Glute bridges
4 x 12 x 40kg (I think - used a shorter bar that I would guess is 10kg)
Seated dumbbell shoulder press
4 x 12 x 12kg dumbbells
Kneeling face pulls
4 x 12 x 27kg
Lat pull downs
4 x 12 x 40kg
Prone hamstring curls
4 x 12 x 27kg

I saw him on a video podcast recently. The amount of food he had to eat really impacted his life.

yeaahh! Gold top milk. That always makes me think of Eddie Hall now, since I saw the Netflix documentary in which he detailed his daily diet. (including a litre of gold top per day)

I just added on 400 calories to my tdee. I find it hard to actually eat that much! I will go buy nuts and gold top milk today.