Weightlifting people, here! Ongoing chat thread...

[MaidOfStars]

We are a bit cut off in the designated forum so here's a shiny new thread to populate.

Hello to anyone that hasn't ventured over to The Weights Room but is lifting/resistance training.

[JustGettingStarted]

Well done Lazyi!

[FindoGask]

Nice one Lazyi!

[Lazyi]

Many thanks!

[Strongbeatsskinny]

I've requested a name change for the weights room i put dumbells and deadlifts as a suggestion. I do agree that far too many people continue to post in there thinking it's for weight loss.
So if anyone can come up with anything different from what I asked please email mumsnet with them out ideas. Let's not loose the place let's get it on the map

[hazelnutlatte]

I'm with you on the not waiting for equipment justgettingstarted - my gym has one squat rack and one bar for deadlifts - and there is often someone hogging them for the entire time I'm there! I've read a lot of forum posts (not on here) where people think you should follow a program exactly or it's not worth bothering, but doing something like stronglifts would be impossible at my gym.

[Urglewurgle]

@hazelnutlatte would you ever just ask if you can work in?

[FindoGask]

I think programmes have their place but no-one needs to follow one. For example Stronglifts is good up to a point but you can't indefinitely add 5kg to all to your lifts every week - if we could all do that we'd all be superhuman! I do my own thing at the gym, and have got stronger that way - like justgettingstarted, I think if you apply a bit of general knowledge and common sense you can manage perfectly well on your own - there's so much free information available to us these days, plus online forums etc.

Where I think programmes can be useful is to address specific areas or to help break through a plateau, but even then they're not the be all and end all. Technique/form is more important, I think (but powerlifting is v strict on that stuff, so maybe I'm biased).

[longdays]

Like findo and just I think that sometimes it's impossible to follow a programme exactly. My local gym doesn't have loads of equipment, but it's nearer and cheaper than more specialised gyms and this moment in time that is more important to me.

As long as I can do a compound lift I'm pleased. If the bar isn't available I swop back squats for goblet or split squats with a DB or KB. Sometimes I have to swop deadlifts for single leg deadlifts with DB/KB.

its not perfect, but I'm still getting stronger

[JustGettingStarted]

I can't do back squats because my shoulders don't let me, so I do goblet squats. It means I'm limited to 30-something kilograms, but I find it perfectly adequate for my needs. (I don't care about lifting big numbers and I have slim legs, so I like having slim quads.) I only use the bar for deadlifts. Yesterday I couldn't get a bar for deadlifts, but that's OK because I do them all the time... Focusing on something else for a day is good.

One piece of equipment that is a bit rare is the Roman chair, that thing you bend over for lower back extensions. It would have been great to have one of those available, instead. Luckily, my home gyms have them.

(I belong to two chains, The Gym and Pure Gym, because I travel all the time and they're everywhere. But at home I prefer to use one of the two independent gyms near me. I pay £5 to train. I could save money by joining one of them but I like to use both.)

Today is upper body. I have to drag myself out of bed and go!

[hazelnutlatte]

Urglewurgle not a chance! It's usually a man who has loaded up the bar with multiple 20kg plates - it would take longer than his rest time for me to unload the bar!
Talking of unloading the bar, does anyone have a good technique for getting the 20kg plates off the deadlift bar without struggling? It takes me bloody ages if someone has left the bar loaded. I can just about manage a 60kg deadlift but use two 10kg plates on each side because it's so hard to get the 20kg plates on! Although then I have to lift from lower to the ground as there are no bumper plates.

[FindoGask]

hazlenut no easy answer, but if I'm deadlifting on a platform I use the safety arms to rest the bar on for loading and unloading the plates - easier that way. Otherwise I unload the plates one side and then lever the bar up so that the plates on the other side slide off to the floor.

[NC4now]

Justgettingstarted I've dragged myself out of bed for upper body today too.
Rows, lat pull down, chest press, shoulder press, planks and I's, Y's and T's.
Finished off with rowing machine intervals.

[JustGettingStarted]

I made it to the gym before 7 and did a pretty good workout. Shoulder presses, Lat Pull downs, seated cable rows, dumbell bench presses, Lateral Dumbbell Raises, reverse flies, chest press machine, Curls and rope push downs.

Now I'm tired. If I'm always recovering from a workout, am I really stronger?

[JustGettingStarted]

hazelnut I do Romanian deadlifts, which can be loaded on the safety thing and then the starting point is waist level.

Sometimes when I have access to Olympic plates, I will start the set from the floor.

But Romanians work my hamstrings and glutes so I like them.

[JustGettingStarted]

I wish more gyms had Olympic plates. The full set isn't necessary... Just some 10kg plates to start setting up with would help.

[hazelnutlatte]

Yes something to rest one side of the bar on would be helpful, am trying to think of how I could do that at my gym, I think the answer is probably to get stronger so I can lift one side of the bar easily to let the plates slide off the other end! Might do RDL's in place of deadlifts more often - there are some ready made barbells I can use for those which are much less hassle.
No deadlifts today but I squatted my body weight for the first time! I can now squat the same amount I can deadlift which surely isn't how it's supposed to be - think it's a combination of my lack of grip strength for deadlifts and the fact that I don't do them often enough.

[JustGettingStarted]

Work on bent over rows to increase your ability to pull up from the floor.

[JustGettingStarted]

My grip is weak, too. I use hooks for my deadlifts. It makes a big difference in the number of reps I can do.

[Urglewurgle]

Roll one side of the loaded bar up onto a small plate on its side, a 5 or something. Gives you enough of an angle to get the plates off that side. Does that make sense?

[hazelnutlatte]

Yes that does make sense - although it's getting the last plate off that's the biggest challenge (no bumper plates)

[FindoGask]

I forgot to update about my session with the powerlifting coach (hope it's OK to use this thread as a bit of a diary, but also some of this might be interesting for others!)

He completely demolished both my squat and my deadlift - luckily we didn't have enough time for bench.

My squat: my stance is narrow and my squat is quad-dominant. My hips aren't open and my knees are forward rather than out. This is all fine as far as it goes but as the weight gets heavier, this is putting too much stress on my knees and not loading my hips effectively (hips are stronger than knees). To get stronger in the squat I am going to need to use a wider stance with my toes more out to engage more of my glutes and outer quads/hamstrings.

I did a few sets squatting as per his adjustments during the session and it felt horrible. Mainly because even though I thought I was getting better at activating my glutes, they are still basically rubbish. So I'm going to have to take the weight right back and build up again from the beginning; but I'm interested to see what happens.

Deadlift:
We did a few very slow reps and he had me dropping the bar when it was just below my knees. When I dropped the bar I stayed perfectly balanced. Apparently this shouldn't happen. I'm not engaging my posterior chain properly (glutes again! hamstrings again!) - if I was, I would tip backwards without the weight to counterbalance me. So we spent a fair old while working on setting up in the right position and activating my hamstrings, glutes, lower back and lats so that I'm like a coiled spring before the bar comes off the floor. This was great and I immediately felt the difference.

So all interesting stuff - lots to work on, but I like that. I'm seeing him again in a week and a bit.

[JustGettingStarted]

findogask Google "Brett Contreras glute activation" yours is a common problem.

I'm resting between sets of hip thrusts now. The cool misty morning has me feeling so groggy!

[MaidOfStars]

I've been away for a long weekend too much booze

Back in the gym this morning, to finally hammer out the lingering fuzziness.

Walking lunges. Slow slow negs, explosive step.
Romanian deadlifts + push ups.
Inverted rows + skater jumps.

Fairly straightforward, thankfully.

[Tomorrowisanewday]

I hate walking lunges with a passion (I have a condition that affects my balance), and will use any excuse not to do them. Congratulations for doing them even with a fuzzy head!

[JustGettingStarted]

I like walking lunges but I have to be very careful because I'm wobbly.

Today I was just so groggy so I did hip thrusts. Then, because the bros were hogging all the barbells, I did deadlifts with the heaviest kettlebell (28kg) for high reps. Then I did banded crab walks (the burn!) I just didn't feel up to doing squats (so tired!) so I did the leg press machine.