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! 💪🏼

Well done @GoTheFcukToSleep 🤩 so nearly there!

Happy to report that I finally joined a gym yesterday and did my first workout there. Nothing too different from usual, just did one of my regular running strength workouts and enjoyed being easily able to grab a different weight and not being limited to what I have at home. Oh, and I had a nice post workout swim. Next step will be to book a few PT sessions to work out a plan for building up my weights. I must also confess I enjoyed having a big mirror - useful for technique but also I admired watching my muscles moving as there is definitely some definition there that wasn't visible a few months ago!

That's great @UnaOfStormhold . Did you give a bar a go - I recall you were using kettlebells before?

I love the big mirror too, for checking form and admiring muscles. And I'm over not admitting that - ever millimetre is evidence of working really hard so I'm proud of it and enjoy seeing it.

I’m trying hard to brave the Big Mirror to check form. All I see is my flaws and fat bits and I hate it. I’m trying to see it as a tool not a torture 😃

@UnaOfStormhold and @RayKray - great progress!!

I've been enjoying using the machines for a change as I'm mostly training indoors because of the heat. The indoor calisthenics rig isn't as good.

Glad you enjoyed your gym workout @UnaOfStormhold!

I love a swim, haven’t been for one for a few weeks now as life has gotten a bit busy. You have reminded me that I need to book a swim soon!

We have a mirror in our gym at home and I honestly can’t imagine working out without one. I find it so useful to watch myself doing exercises, particularly when I’m training my shoulders or squatting.

Well done on joining the gym @UnaOfStormhold! glad you enjoyed it!

I have a question about barbell chest presses, I hope that’s okay! I’ve been doing them lying down on the bench using one of the smaller pre loaded bars. I had to do this because the bar alone at the squat rack was too heavy (20kg) and I started with lower weights (12.5).

now I’m up to 20kg I thought I would use the squat rack, only because it had a place for positioning the bar which makes the set up and first lift much easier (otherwise I’d have to drag the bar over and somehow wrestle it into the right position above me😂).

but is this the right thing to do? Do people use the squat rack (with bench underneath) for chest presses? It looks a bit silly as I’m doing it with the empty bar at the moment and I don’t want to break gym etiquette by using that area when someone else needs it for deadlifts or squats!

sorry for the probably silly question and using all the wrong language most likely😅

one the plus side - I chest pressed 10 x 20 kg (this set twice!) so I’m pleased with that!

Sorry I think I mean to say bench press rather than chest presses😳😳😳

@GoTheFcukToSleep interesting question. I don't have any such set up at my gym, so my answer is entirely second hand... but I was far (far!) too my gym videos on tiktok. I have never seen anyone bench press in a squat rack that I recall. I have seen lots of videos of people bench pressing with a spotter, which might just be another gym goer they've asked rather than anyone they know. That's definitely a whole thing. I've also never seen anyone saying using one in a squat rack is poor etiquette though. And I have seen some about etiquette but usually the overall tone is stop judging and support newcomers, don't be an arse. I will have a look though...

So from my extensive research 😬 yes it's a thing, a tiny bit of murmuring about it not being the right thing to do, but nothing of much significance.

@GoTheFcukToSleep, I've seen people using the rack for chest presses at both the gyms I've belonged to, even with spotters - never seen or heard anything to suggest it isn't OK. Safety comes first I think. People may ask how many sets you have left, but that doesn't mean you have breached gym etiquette - the racks are multipurpose (I use them for pull ups).

If there’s a Smith machine @GoTheFcukToSleep they’re good for safe bench pressing and increasing weights

@GoTheFcukToSleep well done for working up to 20kg! 👏🏼

That’s an interesting question! Does your gym have a bench press set up? If not, I think it’s absolutely fine to use the squat rack for this.

I’ve always understood general gym etiquette is just not to dawdle around and spend any longer in the squat rack than you need to as it’s a popular piece of equipment that most gyms don’t have enough of! But that goes for all of the equipment really. At my old gym there was a guy who used to show up at 5pm and do his entire workout in the gym’s only squat rack - squats, RDLs, overhead press, bench etc. And of course, the No.1 rule: don’t curl in the squat rack 🤣

But I think it’s fine to use it for benching if your gym doesn’t have a dedicated bench press set up. And never feel bad about just working with the bar! You have just as much right to use it as anyone else.

Yes, that's my understanding too. Doesn't matter how heavy or light you lift. Don't use the squat rack for things that could just as well be done elsewhere, and don't take longer than you need. When I started lifting, I would feel very hassled when random blokes asked me how many sets I had left - now I know it is fine, and feel much more confident swapping kit, sets, etc.

What is the etiquette for sharing, so you do a set then other person does a set while you rest, then swap over again till you've both finished sets?

My gym is pretty small (an independent one) and people bench press in the squat rack as it’s safer with the bars to stop the bar. There is a bench press rack but it doesn’t have the safety bars (don’t know if they have a proper name!). Often both are in use.

My DP goes to a “proper” gym, a real big boys gym but it’s a lovely friendly place. My impression of etiquette is that if you’re actually working out, or taking a moment between sets then no one minds at all. If you’re poncing about posing on equipment and doing Instagram reels people get pissy 😂

Re sharing I don’t see it often unless it’s friends working out together. I tend to say oh I’ve got one more set of 15 (or whatever) so they can come back or wait.

Also @GoTheFcukToSleep my PT told me that many women can’t bench press the 20 kg bsr, so you’re doing well!!

Did another weights session today. Bloody love it

@LunchPoems it's the best isn't it!

That's interesting re sharing. I'd hate to offer to share but be misunderstood and lose whatever it was I was using. I get things pretty much to myself at my place so am a rookie in a bigger place.

Seems to be that gymtrained guys either wait to see what sort of rest time you have and then when you're nearly at the end of your next set and subtly position themselves slightly in your line of sight, ready for when you take your focus outside of your body. They then signal with raised eyebrows and a bob of the head, you show them 3 fingers to show you've got 3 reps left, they smile and wait for you to stop before asking if they can jump in or should wait for your last set.

But if it's Brotime in the gym, guys appear in your face or speak in your ear just as you're starting your first rep. Headphones are very useful for those, as if you can't hear them, they bugger off and pester somebody else (and leave a trail of unracked weights and arse sweat surfaces behind them as they go).

Although this may be a prejudice being formed as a result of Functional Fitness Circuit Cross Fit Testosterone Classes starting in the gym and gradually infesting the entire place because they can't possibly keep the equipment or activities to the designated section and clearly, everybody needs to see them doing bar handstands in front of the cleaning station.

In other news, I might have a theory about the days where performance has improved. Magnesium. Looking back at better sessions and where I've done some fairly intense (for me) endurance things, it has coincided with higher intake in food and significantly more so when I've had one of those wanky waters.

After some research, I've bought some Magnesium Glycinate (no desire to experience the effects of citrate) and I'm going to see if it does do anything or not; if anything, I'm primed for a nocebo effect, as I'm a very cynical person.

Planning to go to the gym tomorrow before it gets too hot. If I do go, I shall report back if there seems to be any discernible difference.

@NeverDropYourMooncup thanks that's useful. Thankfully I have both headphones and a good stare without even trying, so will call on it if ever needed. My gym is women only so no ego and the heavy free weights are mainly just mine 😬

Interesting re the magnesium. I use magnesium cream every night to help with sleep.

@RayKray, yes, someone jumps in while you rest between sets, then swap. Obviously with weights that only really works if you lifting similar weights or it takes ages so is unlikely with strangers (tho it is how I met my training partner) and was more of a thing in my old (chatty, super-friendly) gym (where people would be more likely to ask strangers for a spot too) than my current. But with bodyweight kit - P bars, pull-up bars etc, it occasionally happens, especially if they just want a one-set finisher or something. And I do a cali class weekly at my gym, so I know the other people who do that and we share kit and spot form occasionally.

My current strength-based gym is full of very polite, serious young men - they give the much smaller number of women plenty of space and time, but offer help eg reaching stuff, if needed (the rig is very high). I want to tell their mothers they have done a fine job 😀.

Soooo enjoying this thread - it is marvellous to be able to discuss these things with people who get it.

but is this the right thing to do? Do people use the squat rack (with bench underneath) for chest presses? It looks a bit silly as I’m doing it with the empty bar at the moment and I don’t want to break gym etiquette by using that area when someone else needs it for deadlifts or squats!

Quite normal at my gym, which is a chain commercial one, but my club has mostly quite serious lifters and metcon people training ( minimum of gym bunnies). We have a dedicated chest press bench and rack, but people sometimes use one of the squat racks - they are easier if you’ve no one to spot you.

I don’t do bench press much, so anything over 30 kilos is v impressive to me! I’m aiming for 40 kg but it’s going to take me aaaages.

And warming up with the bar bell is also fine. I squat almost my body weight, but my warm up is 12 bar only squats. It’s 20 kilos so it’s not nothing.

Yup, you can do that. But ask first. And if someone asks you, it’s ok to say No, but do let them know how many sets you’ve got left to do.

It’s trickier if you’re on a machine and the other person uses a different weight to you, but as long as you can both adjust quickly, it can work. I’ve also alternated with someone when I’ve been doing a lat superset eg lat pull down machine, and then jumping onto the pull up machine.

Oh wow that’s guys that’s load of useful advice on the bench pressing!

re magnesium I also find it really helps! I take multivits with extra iron and then a seperate magnesium🙂