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! 💪🏼

Great to see everyone's successes.
I have sciatica and have stopped deadlifts and squats for a while. Am waiting for a physio referral and at the moment am doing exercises recommended on a virtual consult. I feel a bit gloomy about the situation, I think it would be wise when/if I do start lifting again to abandon ambitions for my PR and stick to moderate loads. I really miss it, but the pain, and particularly the numbness in my foot, are concerning and I can't just plough on.
Meanwhile I am working on my cardio and upper body, bench pressing like mad! And doing goblet squats and sumo deadlifts with a light kettlebell to stop my legs withering away.

Sorry to hear that - I use the simplistic mobility method and lots of people rate it in the Facebook group for helping with all sorts.

I went to a gym that wasn't my usual today and had to ask for help with setting up the squat rack as it didn't work like my usual one. I'd just been doing lots of dumbbell lifting. I went to pick up one of the safety bars to put it on and the guy helping me warned me to be careful as it was heavy 😆 I replied I'm ok with heavy things. Really tickled me.

@Acerpalmatum , sorry to hear that. One step at a time, I guess. Hope the physio referral comes through soon and they can help.

@RayKray 😀

Tough PT session for me yesterday - lots of rings work and pull ups.

Do any of you use the gymshark app? I must say i have been impressed with it so far.

I got to about 13 weeks on the stronglifts 5x5 programme and was really pleased with the results. Unfortunately i have some knee issues which eventually, regardless of form the weight was causing me knee pain. Doing a PB each session soon catches up when you are lifting it 25 times per session. I will return to it but stronglifts makes the most of the strength in the muscle you have, i need to work on building some more muscle.

Anyhow, i have a pretty good understanding of general workouts and i have the ear of a PT so i used the gymshark app to put together my own programme based around the equipment i have at home. I have 3 plans programmed. Each has 3 sessions per week and i plan to run each for 4 weeks per plan. It records weights & session times. It uses programmed rests and even allows you a video of each exercise from its library just in case you want to remind yourself on form.

For a free app i am stunned by how good it is.

Sounds good. Does it autodetect what you're doing? I use train which does that, but it's trying to get me to pay now

No it doesnt auto detect.....is that linked to a smart watch?

Yes that's right

Not a big session today for me - but I nearly got my 8th pull! They aren't all quite chin right over bar and the 8th definitely wasn't - but progress anyway. Mt PT session has cranked up and I'm doing two calisthenics classes a week as well (with a rotating focus - currently muscle-ups, tho I am nowhere near so all drills and progressions), so it is quite hard to programme my remaining sessions so I get enough rest but also practise and do my pull up sets, in particular....

There's super impressive to me @MsMartini!

I had to have a few days off as I'd hurt my back (it was my own overexcited exuberance that did it) and was so pleased to be back today. Managed to crank up an extra kg on my lat raises too.

I should put a bit more focus on pull/chin ups I think as they were always my goal and I think a bit more realistic now.

@RayKray , go for it! Apart from the various pull up drills (negs, bands, holds etc), wide grip inverted rows really helped me and you can rep out till failure.

@MsMartini ah good reminder! I'd forgotten those and when I did them once I loved them. Did you use the squat rack? What height did you put the bar? I'm a bit worried about the bar coming off but I think that's my shaky understanding of physics. Presumably the direction of my weight pushes the bar down so it won't come off

Good question! I was mainly training in cali parks then (those bars in actual parks) so the bars are fixed. If you have one of them near you, I'd recommend trying it out.
calisthenics-parks.com/mobile-app
I live near one of the ones used for national comps, and the community is great.

Otherwise yes, a barbell. You are pulling down on it and not leaping around so it won't come off, but yes they can shift a little sometimes. The higher the bar, the easier it is so see where you can get 10 reps and move it down. If you put your feet up on a bench or box, that makes it harder again, as does moving your feet further out beyond the bar. You can do bicep curls on the same setup while you are there - switch grip, focus on using biceps not lats, and adjust feet to where you can do ten reps, or whatever.

Or if your gym has them you can use rings - harder to focus on wide grip but challenging in a different way like everything with rings I find!

Perfect thanks. Yes it was a callisthenics place on holiday I got to have a go, and I was delighted how well I could do it. There's the odd bit of random callisthenics stuff near me, but nothing like I saw on holiday. And good tip re biceps vs lats. I've trained my biceps lots (cos there cool right? 😎) but lats are harder to feel/see. I'm definitely training them as I can tell by the weight difference for bent over rows but doing something similar yet different would really bring out that contrast so I think would be good for me.

Muscle up - False grip. Helps loads

Oh blimey, @Tessasanderson , we were practising false grip hangs this week!

And yes, @RayKray , there is also something very satisfying too about using one bit of kit - a barbell say - and training different muscles (can also do straight bar dips and triceps extensions, say), saves some time too.

@MsMartini thanks for the inverted row tip. I've added them in to the end of my sessions using the smith machine and have been really enjoying doing them. They make me feel strong and closer to getting a pull up.

Oooh great @RayKray . I really like them at the end of a session too, especially if I want to train to failure. And all sorts of different variants you can do by adjusting grip, hand width, and foot position, without faffing around with kit.

Ooomph! Went for a 9th pull today, didn't get it but can see it round the corner....form far from perfect but not getting worse. People who want pull-ups - I have been doing a block of muscle-up classes, which have involved doing explosive banded high pulls (use a strong enough band to get chest to bar at least) and I think they have helped my normal pulls, strength AND power, so might be worth trying? You feel like you are flying as well, so good fun to do.

Still chasing my 100 kg deadlift - I did a series of 3 reps (resetting in between) couple of days ago with my PT spotting me - just using a couple of fingers to help me get it off the ground. Once I've got it a couple of centimetres up, I can do the rest of the lift. But oh boy, getting it off the ground - argh.

Wow @WindyHedges , 100kg!

I managed a 4th rep at 37.5kg on my bench press yesterday. Progress is so slow!! Target is 40kg for 5 I think that'll be at least 6 months away.
@WindyHedges 100kg deadlift is very good!! How does your PT help get it off the floor? Do you use wraps to help your grip? I really miss lifting.

Awesome progress everyone! Great to see! My only over 100kg is the leg press but I love having 3 digits on the weights. Very cool.

Can I ask a question for those of you with PTs please? I'm getting to the point of really needing input on form to go heavier. How much do you spend all in on gym fees/PT fees etc? And how often do you see the PT? There's an option I've just been looking into which I'd like to try but it's more ££ than I want. But I wonder if my expectations are unrealistic. Can I get away with say a couple of PT sessions a month plus gym membership. Or is that never going to work and actually I need to invest more than that? My goal is to lift heavier - squat/deadlift/bench press.

I see my PT infrequently now but I did a year or so of seeing him every week. We did months of general strength and conditioning before moving to barbell lifts, I started from a low base of fitness.
my gym is a cheap basic one. It used to be about £27 but has crept up to £35. I used to go to a Virgin Active so by comparison it's very good value though I miss the pool.
my PT was £40 per session and my sessions were weekly. I used to train 4 times between sessions to justify the expense. In all it was around £200 a month.

Thanks that's really helpful. And in the ball park of what I'm looking at but for more PT than that (which I don't have a choice about)