Weightlifting people, here! Ongoing chat thread...

I like back squats, hate front squats (too much finger pain) and despise overhead squats because zero flexibility so I can barely squat the bar.

I love, love, love squats, Oogle. I am trying to build my upper body strength up. I think I am losing weight very slowly but my shape is changing (I have shoulders and a waist!), especially since I started doing heav(ier) squats and deadlifts. I love the feeling of being more solid too, Just, and never feeling tired (unless I have overdone it in the gym)

I like how solid and firm my body now feels. I have been working out consistently for 16 months, now. I've only missed for the occasional illness, travelling or blizzard. I don't see huge progress in the mirror, but I definitely see a big difference from when I started. Honestly, since I'm not going to be changing my diet a huge amount, I don't expect to see huge changes.

Johnny victories look great! 30lb is great, I've got such a long way to go until I'm there!

I'm the same with my lower body - my arms look amazing but my legs seem to take so much longer to get there. I do still push to work them once a week though and I am starting to see a difference. I do a lot of calf raises so they're looking good! I like squats as I think you see a big difference to the bum quite quickly. I do prefer upper-body workouts though!

I do face pulls on the cable machine but can't describe them so have taken this from a website

Starting position:
Stand in front of a pulley set at approximately head height.
Grasp one end of the rope attachment in each hand using a supinated (underhand) grip.
Step backward so that the rope is taut and your arms are stretched out in front of you.
Assume a staggered stance (place one foot in front of the other) and lean backward to help you balance.

Execution:
Exhale as you pull the rope toward your forehead.
As the rope nears your face, externally rotate your shoulders so that you end up making a double biceps pose.
Hold for a count of two.
Inhale as you reverse the motion and return the rope to the starting position in a controlled manner.
Repeat.

Good job oogle and just, but I have to ask, what is a "face pull" ????

Couple of small victories today

• I graduated to 30lb DB for 3x8 one armed seated shoulder press. It wasnt pretty, but it got done. I know everyone says "form" etc, but at some point you have to make the weight jump and when the increment is 2kg+, it's not going to be perfect for the first few efforts

• I got my 4th pronated pull up using the rock climbing grips. My PT has been getting me trying to concentrate on raising my chest up to meet the bar to avoid shoulder scrunching and it's really paid off.

• I need to do more lower body but still quite limited in what I can actually do and also, you dont see the impact so quickly. Arms just get jacked. Legs need persuading, especially when you're a classic pear like me.

I've been sticking to my full-body barbell program. (squats, rows, overhead press three days a week. Then I do bench and Romanian deadlifts twice a week) On alternate days I'm running.

I initially missed all the accessory lifts but now I think this is actually working for me. I'm not seeing any detriment to leaving out the hip abductors, face pulls, Lateral raises and hip thrusts.

I'm having some issues with a niggle in my knee and a pulled muscle in my shoulder but I'm planning on getting back into it properly now holidays/colds/snow are all out of the way! I know my knee improves massively when I do regular exercise so no worries there.

Mixing it up a bit with my PT now - we're alternating between lower body, upper body, full body & circuits. Muscle mass is highest it's been and body fat % at lowest point (although just back from a weekend away so likely to have increased )

I need to concentrate on sorting my eating out and getting to the gym 3 times a week. I plan on starting to run 1 or 2 mornings a week when the weather improves too.

I feel like I've stalled a bit with increasing weights so aiming to work on that as of next week.

Excellent, thanks, will do that.

Basically always start with your weaker side and keep the weight the same for both sides, even if easy for the strong side

That sounds good, Johnny. I have gone up to 75 kg on squats, And discovered doing one-armed shoulder presses that I am much stronger one side, so am trying to do a few more of them to even myself up. Anyone got any tips for that?

Hi All

Just giving the thread a bit of a bump. How are we all doing?

I am getting stronger and fatter every day

Hopefully getting signed off by doc in 3 weeks so can start cardio again and get some weight off.

In the meantime I've been getting some gainz on the upper body, particularly bench press, shoulder press, dips and pull ups. Not much bar work as I find it too hard on my feet still.

Yes, sorry, I have been holding.

A negative chin up correctly performed is jump up hold a few seconds and lower in 15 to 20 seconds 😉

Johnny and Just, yes, I jump up and then lower slowly, with as long a hold at the top as I can. I can only do one at a time though and crawl off into the corner to recover. My deadlifts are Romanians, sorry should have said that - only just started doing them but the weight has increased quite quickly. Most people at my gym seem to use gloves.

Well done on your bracing and press-ups, Johnny!

I find that with regular deadlifts, resetting means that the weight/grip matters less as my hands won't fatigue faster than the rest of me. For Romanian deadlifts, I have to use hooks (like straps, but even better) if I want to go heavy.

I took last week off because I went on holiday. I have two weeks left of the barbell program I'm on and then I will go back to the upper/lower split where I was more flexible with the exercises. That means not having to stress about the squat rack being available.

By "negative chin ups" do you mean you start at the top and lower yourself slowly? If so, yes, that is a bitch on your hands. I'd maybe wear gloves for that and not for the deadlift.

Had another go at deadlift today and just a little tweak to positioning ( PT told me to focus on pulling my pecs together) means I can now brace perfectly (this is why I pay him ) so managed 3 sets with a barbell and plates - nothing crazy as I need to keep my weight quite far back to avoid damaging my surgery, but pleased to be back on it. Also managed press ups- woo hooo!!! Seeing consultant on Thurs and really hoping he'll allow stationary bike and ergo going forward. My cardio is sooooo crap now.

Thanks both. Have only just started doing deadlifts and use a mixed grip (I think - one overhand, one underhand?). I wore gloves for the first time yesterday and think they helped but also quite like feeling the bar....I wear my calluses with pride but am doing some negative chin-ups as well and find if my hands hurt I come down faster...

@MsMartini gloves do hinder your grip bare hands and chalk embrace the calluses I say. Although I do own a pair of versa grips they don’t get used very often

I don’t wear gloves (CrossFit gym thing) but I used to and found them all to be much of a muchness. What grip are you using for deadlift? Beyond a certain weight hook grip is better and I often also use a mixed grip. Otherwise you could consider using straps. Deadlift is really hard on the grip as it’s one of few lifts where the weight massively tests grip strength on longer sets.

Do you guys wear gloves for weightlifting and if so any recommendations? I have a cheap pair from Decathlon which I wear for deadlifts but it still hurt yesterday!

Good luck findo . interested to see how that works out. My personal feeling is that own scheduling works fine up to a level and for body building work, but following a programme is needed once the gains start getting harder and more incremental. I definitely need to get more structured but kind of just marking time at the moment until I get properly back on my feet. Cannot wait to get back into the big compound lifts ( except front rack squats because they suck).

Looks great Oogle!

My own news is that I'm going to switch to following a programme, having previously extolled the benefits of doing my own thing. Which I is all well and good but even though my squat has come on, I've not seen any significant progress in my deadlift or bench for ages now and it's starting to really get on my tits. So I'm going to run Wendler's 5/3/1, make myself stick to it for 3 months, and see what happens. There's an app I've downloaded on my phone.

I'll be lifting 4 days per week, which is the same as I currently do, but each day will focus on one lift (back squat, bench, deadlift or overhead press) with up to three accessory exercises. It looks like I won't be doing anywhere near as much volume as I do currently which is probably for the best - be done and dusted in an hour.

I've been too busy to post but still very much here and reading! Sounds like you're all doing really well!

I've been concentrating on arms with my PT but we're back to the usual routine now so a legs session today - it's going to hurt tomorrow!

Squats 1 x 10 x 20 followed by 5 x 8 x 30
Hamstring curl 2 x 12 x 25 followed by 2 x 12 x 22.5
Single leg squat 3 x 10
Hamstring bridges 3 x 10
Glute bridge (10kg) 3 x 10
Walking lunges 3 x aisle with 10kg
Finished with the treadmill on 15%, switched off and I had to sprint for 12 seconds to move the belt, rest for 30 x 5.

It felt good. I've had a week off and I'm now itching to get back into it. Need to up my cardio so planning a cardio/upper body mix on Thursday.

Yep, thanks. Got it now.