Lifting support thread!

[Work2live]

Thought I’d start this thread as a few people thought it’d be a good idea.

It might be a nice place to support each other and talk about lifting in general, ask for tips and advice on workouts, how to get enough protein etc.

All levels very much welcome, from complete newbies to those who’ve been weightlifting for years! 💪🏼

Thanks 😊 Can anyone tell me the purpose of a 1 rep maximum? Is it just for people who are competing? Or just wanting to test their body? I can't work out how fits with reps/sets etc.

The best way to train is with a progressive programme - so you lift progressively heavier. And 1 rep maxima help you to track the improvement. It's great - my DL 1 rep max used to be 75kg. Now that's my warm up DL weight.

Thanks @GoodThinkingMax . But why that rather than sets? I go progressively heavier, and might do a drop set if I'm trying to reach the next weight. So today I did 10kg hammer curls for something like 5 reps then dropped to 8kg to finish the set. So should I try 1 at 12.5kg (I don't have anything in between) then drop to 10kg, then 8kg? Or when I was doing cable rows I kept upping the weight each time peaking with a set of 9 reps rather than 11 reps. Should I keep upping till I can only do 1?

@RayKray I’ve always just seen one rep maxes as a way of tracking my maximum strength for compound exercises, the main ones being things like:

Deadlift
Squat
Bench

I wouldn’t really think to test my 1RM for an isolated exercise like hammer curls.

For real powerlifting 1RM might serve a purpose, but I think for the average strength trainer it’s just a number, really. It’s still worth doing though if you want to do it. It feels good to know the absolute maximum you’re capable of lifting!

I tell myself that I'm near enough doing bodyweight exercises every time I get out of bed, never mind start shifting metal.

DP's the jammy git, though. He's the one who is now a healthy weight, has buns of steel and some rather nice lat widening going on - when I'm the one who got him into it in the first place and showed him the basics. He'd only ever used a treadmill or elliptical before (and only for a few months at that). I'm still wincing at 18kg leg curls and the Painful Thing of the Week is the enthesis in my left elbow - for no reason whatsoever, as I've only been doing 15kg preachers. It's not fair and I want to know who I can submit my complaint to!

Battered my legs this evening (hence the whining about curls) and I think I've convinced DP that tomorrow morning doesn't have to start with another trip to the gym when there's a perfectly nice Rec less than a mile down the road which would mean daylight and fresh air. And no queues waiting for the locals to upload TikToks of a) their arse as they go up the stairclimber for exactly 10 seconds or b) of their faces as they sit on the machines and don't actually use them as more than staging.

However, in other news, I'm waiting for my new contract at work to be issued - with a hefty pay rise (due to 25% more hours as standard and the facility to claim for additional overtime). As soon as that starts hitting my bank account in September, I think I might upgrade to a different gym. One with a pool steam and sauna, a little more variety in classes and possibly slightly fewer Lives being filmed.

Thanks @Work2live that makes sense

Hey ladies, can I celebrate in here my lift this morning - bench, 40kg x 5 x 3 ! I don't know many women who lift and to men that's such a low number but to me it's huge! Im not built for lifting (narrow shoulders/rib cage) so it has taken me a long time to get that far!

I do feel like I'm struggling with my deadlifts though. Im not new to exercising, but I filmed my lifts and noticed my upper body seems to lag behind slightly and I think my lifting technique is quite inefficient. Does anyone have any good tips for deadlifting cues? I'm safe - chest up, shoulders back, bum out etc - but feel I'm missing the explosive part of the movement if that makes sense?

@NeverDropYourMooncup it's a pain isn't it - my DH has never done any formal exercise, never stepped foot in a gym - he's still stronger than me, can run further etc. He did a 5k run for charity with work when someone dropped out, he's never been for a jog. Ran 5k in under 25min. Outraged!

@Paintsplat those are really impressive numbers for bench! Well done! Honestly men just don’t realise how difficult benching is for most women. When I used to go to the gym, a lot of female beginners struggle to even bench the 20kg bar (myself included)!

I managed 37.5kg x 6 x 3 this week which I was pleased with - I might use you as my inspiration and push for the 40kg next time.

I’ve never been amazing at deadlifts either, but there are a few tips if you look back over the last few messages on this thread! Raising the height of the bar slightly can help as it decreases the range of motion.

Focus on driving your feet into the ground as you lift the bar, and remember to hinge at your hips - don’t let your back take the weight, really focus on driving through your legs.

Thanks @Work2live I got back into lifting at the start of the year, though had done a fair amount in my thirties so I did have some base strength - but when I very first started back then, it was 4kg dumbbells I was using! I was excited to work up to using the bar, and then when I first added weight plates (1.25kg each) I remembered thinking how silly they looked on a 7ft bar. So yes, am very pleased with this eventual progress!

I had been stuck at 37.5kg for a while and one day decided to try 40 just to see what it felt like. 37.5 had never started to feel easy, but I could move 40kg - so I'd been using 40kg for my last set for a while even if it was only 2 or 3 reps, almost like I had to condition my brain to accept that the weight was ok!

I will have look back over the thread, thanks. I think weirdly I got too focused on driving with the legs, as that was the main advice I remember thinking about as a beginner, and it's almost like I drive through with my legs first before remembering about my arms/back. I don't think the bar height is an issue, I'm short and use bumpers so I've got an advantage there at least (one of the few times that short legs is helpful!!)

@Paintsplat there’s definitely something very psychologically challenging about benching - I think it’s because of the risk of dropping the bar on yourself (even if you do have a spotter) you just feel vulnerable in that position!

I think deadlifts are so tricky to get right because they’re such a ‘full body’ movement. If you’re good at driving with your legs, I would say the next thing to focus on is your upper body - bracing your core, straightening your back, shoulders down and take the slack out of the bar before you lift. Try to make sure your hips and bum aren’t ‘shooting up’ before the rest of your upper body too.

@Paintsplat well done that's awesome! There's not the set up for bench presses at my gym so I don't get a chance to try. Re deadlifts I mentioned a guy on tiktok earlier in the thread who gives feedback on deadlifts if you have a video to share.

Today I went to a different gym just for a one off. I kept going up the machine to do a seated cable row and managed a few at 98kg! That's 1.5 times my bodyweight! I must have found my niche!

Thanks @Work2live that's a good point about not letting my hips shoot up, I think that might be the cue to try and balance things out a bit.

@RayKray that's awesome! I work out at home so don't have access to cable machines, lucky enough to have a garage with space for barbells though! Its a shame they don't have bench press set ups in your gym, usually they're common. Do they have squat racks or power cages or anything like that? I bench within a power cage so that I can use spotter arms. Does mean I'm doing alright short reps, as the arms are set basically to my chest height, but at least it means I can wriggle out if I fail!

Could it be your lats causing the disconnect, perhaps, Splat? It sounds like everything either side of them is firing.

I used to box a bit and the explosive power came from my lats; there wasn't any punching from my shoulders/upper back (recipe for a torn rotator cuff or dislocated AC there), it was all seated in my sides, so I did stuff with twists to make it feel like there was two thick layers of protection, one around my ribs - the lats/power - and one underneath in my obliques.

Maybe if you visualised you were protecting your ribs against somebody tickling you, that might give a hint whether they were a little weaker than the rest of you/not responding as quickly?

@Paintsplat no my gym doesn't have squat racks or anything like that. We have benches and barbells but nothing to hold the barbell to then get it down. I balance the barbell on crates for deadlifts. And sit on the floor for cable rows. It's all a bit dated but I love it for other reasons. I often ponder what the longer term solution is but right now I'm having a great time there.

@RayKray do you have any pay as you go gyms near you? Our local council gym costs about £5 if you just want to go in and use it. Could be an option if you’d like access to more equipment every now and then. Quite a lot of gyms do day passes but they’re sometimes a bit more expensive.

@Work2live I do - I can use the council one for 6.50 and have been before. And I can easily access a pure gym near work for £20 a month which might be an option.

@NeverDropYourMooncup I doubt it's anything that niche, though I will check - I think it's more likely just coordination! I think I'm moving my lower body sooner/faster than my upper body. I might practice with a light weight and video it again and see if I can improve it.

My glutes are on fire today! I did heavy hip thrusts yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks and I am feeling it!

I also did 12kg Bulgarian split squats - quite possibly my least favourite exercise. What is it about them that’s SO awful?!

I did Bulgarians today too. I'm really trying to work in my glutes as I'm not convinced they always fire into action. They seem to always give me a bum cramp nothing else does. The guy who does a flexibility programme I do says is them figuring out that they're needed when they're not used that much.

@RayKray I find that leaning forward slightly, with a slightly wider stance helps me to feel split squats in my glutes more.

I also had a sports massage a couple of months ago which worked wonders for feeling my glutes more - I think she ‘released my piriformis’ or something 😂 She said it felt very tight on both sides and whatever she did was PAINFUL, but oh my god I felt my glutes firing so much more during my next lower body workout!

Decided to test how many full push ups I could do yesterday: 15! 💪🏼 I think I maybe could’ve managed 16 but my form would’ve suffered too much.

Really pleased with that. A few months ago I was struggling to do 5 or 6, so I feel like I’ve made huge progress. Next stop 20 😬

Oh, I might try that today @Work2live , though I can’t get close to the floor! Exercise for today was to have been a run, but was foiled by clouds of flies, just too disgusting!

i did sprint back to my car, which has Jed me to consider doing some sprint training. I’m terrible at running but this might be a little distraction and good cardio to go with my weights

yayy @Work2live, that's great. So satisfying to see progress like that.

@LunchPoems, I am a very slow runner, and enjoy that, and try to do a bit of HIIT to make up for fact I hate sprinting!

Awesome @Work2live! That's very cool! I've gone from doing them on bench to step recently, but can only do 4 in a set. They are right at the end of my session once I've done loads of other stuff though. Just back from today's upper body session. No gains but I've been overdoing it this week which is perhaps why. I did have a nice chat with a new person though and could reassure her that yes strength training is great and no it won't make you bulky (unless you work incredibly hard at it with that as the goal).

@LunchPoems clouds of flies??!! I don’t blame you for giving it a miss 😬

@MsMartini I hate sprinting too, or any other form of running really!

@RayKray doing them at the end of your session is tough! I did mine at the end of a pull session yesterday so my chest wasn’t too fatigued. I quite often do them to failure straight after benching so I wasn’t sure how many I could do when I wasn’t feeling too tired.