Lifting Support Thread 3

[Proteinpud]

Continuing from @Work2live 's original thread, with the following intro post

"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! 💪🏼"

I had a period of getting input from more than one person and I didn't like it for the inconsistency. I do still have some sessions where I potentially get input from others, but I'm unlikely to take much heed unless my coach confirms.

My first warm ups that aren't just the bar for the movement are 50% ish of my 1RM. Bench is a bit more but it would be a fiddle to do much else given the lower numbers.

Thanks all, appreciate all the comments and input.

Went back to push and pull today. It was the original instructor and I did find myself saying the words 'I know my body best' which caused him to back off slightly which was good. I was feeling prickly as he was trying to get me to increase a weight that I wasn't sure about.

There was only 2 of us. After the other lady gave some feedback that it would be good to have a walk through of the exercises before the programme as it's not just the exercises but the rep ranges are different for each one etc. And the order in the app is not the same as the floor so you have to identify things. He agreed.

I then piped up about the warm up and he advised to do some machines upstairs and lunges etc. He said that was on us to do as they don't have time. Slightly important information to know beforehand !!!

Session was good, some good increases (tiny compared to where I was). It's also good to be doing different exercises but I think you do have to be careful - I did five months or so on the same program which was good but I'm sure any program has limits and the moving to doing deeper squats is an ask on my muscles, especially as I have only been working on my treadmill for the last few months. Unsurprisingly when I think about it, it's the quad muscle that crosses my thigh that's twinging- given that I've not done much movement in that direction.

Anyway I felt great after. A few twinges in my chest where I have had lung surgery and have scar tissue. Hence me getting prickly. Once you've had knee cartilage surgery, lung surgery etc. there is a lot more that someone can't see visually.

I'm actually finding the calories okay, probably as I'm slightly bigger than I was before.

I definitely will do the proper warm up on Weds for leg day.

Had a chat with the other lady in the class which was nice. It's really cool watching someone like me bench press or deadlift.

I had a period of getting input from more than one person and I didn't like it for the inconsistency. I do still have some sessions where I potentially get input from others, but I'm unlikely to take much heed unless my coach confirms.

I tend to go by my PT's advice, but I'm also dancer trained, and still do regular ballet class with different teachers. Each has a different approach & I'm experienced enough to take what I need, and also learn from these different approaches and adjust for each teacher (it's like learning choreography - you do what the choreographer wants).

So I'm used to getting different advice from people and filtering it, and using it when it's useful to me. And after 7 years of training with one PT, I think I"m reasonably knowledgeable now to manage my own training in between sessions with my PT.

So in weightlifting group classes (my gym runs a couple) where the emphasis is much more on volume and what I find to be too many glute exercises (really? I want strong arms and quads, not a rounded butt) I do what that particular instructor sets us, and it's often much more volume and just more exercises than I'd do in a session - so I adjust accordingly - lower the weights, for example.

By the way, I thought you lot would appreciate my recent PB:

I hit 100 k deadlift about 9 months ago. The other day, I pulled 100 k twice (touch & go) so I thought I'd just try putting those extra little biscuits on (the titchy 1.25 kilo plates).

And YES!!!!

I pulled 102.5 kilos

And after a 3 minute rest, did it again.

I was working on my own, as I"m away from home for work at the moment. And I'm not adept at setting up my phone camera to film my lifts, so all I could do was photograph the loaded bar as proof.

But what is extraordinary is that although 100 felt heavy and 102.5 felt heavy, they didn't feel deathly heavy. I can remember the awful struggle just to get the bar off the floor & the feeling my body was going to break. And now, I huff & puff, but I feel really competent and strong. It's great.

Yay that's awesome! Well done!

I know exactly what you mean, I have moments all the time when I realise that weight I used to wish I could lift, that seemed really heavy, is now a warm up or something I rep out for a harder variation. The process works!

@YellowAsteroid Yayyy absolutely brilliant!!! Such an amazing feeling.

I wish more people understood - so many women in particular say to me I could never do that, I've got no strength. And I repeat till I am blue in the face that no-one has at the start, you start with what you can do and add teeny bits on and six months later those teeny bits have added up......I wish there was something like C25k about building up slowly that really took off (the NHS has a strength equivalent but it isn't really about progression, it is a decent beginner approach to park bodyweight training - how to do eg push ups off a park railing - but no detailed programme week by week).

Classes - I'm the same. If it doesn't quite work for me i adapt a bit (for eg cali and boxing and living in very youthful area, I'm usually old enough to be their mother if not grandmother 😂so they are happy with this) s, or don't go. Hence not going to the annoying (to me) instructor where he divides into groups by strength not experience.

Well done @YellowAsteroid!!

I had a decent squat session this week, it wasn't mega heavy but after 4 months of injury/diet disrupting training it was great to get under a loaded bar and find it moving well. Building it back!

Deadlifts on the other hand...they just suck at the moment. I am overthinking them, it feels so heavy, the sequencing is all wrong so I can't work out how to I initiate the lift... I will keep plugging away.

@everycowandagain I start on the rack with my deadlifts as I could never get that first one. That really helped and got me moving into the movement.

@YellowAsteroid that’s absolutely fantastic in the 102.5. I love those little nuggets 😅

@everycowandagain I sometimes do deficit deadlifts to get stronger at the pull off the floor. Stand on a plate, take a bit of weight off, and lift. For me trying to think through stuff isn't always helpful, I need to let my body figure out the movement pattern and variations help do that as they force your body to adjust how it moves ever so slightly.

@RayKray I am definitely over thinking it! My coach is super detail focused which is mostly fantastic but when I am stuck in a vortex of over thinking it probably makes it worse. I might deadlift with him again in my next session but suggest we go for fewer cues and more feeling it out.

Yeh my coach has to limit my cues. There was a meme doing the rounds of that turkish(?) shooting guy in the Olympics who just rocked up in a tshirt, next to someone with all the kit. The one with all the kit has all the cues around them, tshirt guy has 'just pick it up' by him

I had a much better deadlift session today, when I told my coach I wanted to deadlift he actually said ok great but I am not going to give you any cues this week!!

I got some really good reps and was able to feel it out. Not massively heavy but all building blocks!

Well done @everycowandagain , that's a good feeling! Nice to see how everyone else is doing too.

I'm halfway through my first proper workout in weeks (injury and then ill). I just picked day one for the SBTD programme, and now realising that 'leg day's probably wasn't sensible for a return. I might not be able to walk tomorrow. Nothing is super heavy, but BB squats, Bulgarians, goblet squats, single leg bridges... Eek!

Well done @everycowandagain i bet your numbers go up quickly now you’re feeling it.

@Proteinpud you are going to be in agony tomorrow! 😂 Can I ask how long the SBTD workouts take? I’m still In two minds about the effectiveness of my small group PT. I’m going to ask them to programme me a whole body workout that I can do in addition to the three group ones. But when my trial runs out next month I’m not sure I can justify £249 pm. It’s not really the money… but the workouts are fast and I do feel a bit rushed. And also I know I won’t be hitting all the muscle groups.

@redfacebigdisgrace I'm probably not the best person to ask on that, because I read online that that the express workouts can be done in 45min-hr and I seem to take about an hour and a half... I probably do have longer rest times (messing about on my phone/listening to music) because I'm training in my garage on my own though!
I think the 'regular' version is often said to take 1hr 15- 90mins but the express seems very popular, just fewer sets of the accessories really.

£249 a month is a lot on classes. Regardless of whether you can afford it, you want expertise for that price, and to feel that it's tailored to you, not to feel rushed.

I think SBTD has a free trial option if you want to see what the workouts are like. The current programme is more hypertrophy focused than the last, tends to be (on the 3 day), day 1 is squats and other leg focused exercises, day 2 is bench and other upper body (rows, curls etc) and day 3 is built around hip thrusts and deadlift. Its quite a long programme so think there's another few months similar to this.

@redfacebigdisgrace are the group sessions generic rather than specific to you?

My gym is a bit less than that (not much) and it's shared PT so you have your own specific to you programme but share the PT with others. Your programme is designed around your goals and you work at your own pace. You can go on as often as you like, although if you tried to go in every day they'd talk to you about rest days I imagine. Obviously that doesn't really help as you're not at my gym, but I thought it was a potentially useful point of comparison.

Yes they’re just generic. There are 3 coaches. Yours sounds better. The guy is so nice and it’s a small business which I’d like to support but I don’t really feel its value for money. They’re quite chatty during sessions too which I find off putting. With my PT I saw her twice a week she did my programme for 2 other sessions. That was £280 pm plus gym membership (cheap as it was pure gym at £20pm)

@RayKray how often do you have a coached session? The £249pm is for 12 coaches sessions pm but they’re generic. I think I could request a specific extra session programmed but I’m not sure others do that.

Thanks! Yes it is expensive isn’t it? I do like the community aspect, but do I like it that much?! I will look at SBTD. It’s 4 sessions a week isn’t it?

As often as you like. You could have a shared PT session every day if you like.
I have a 121 once a week but I pay for a more expensive membership for that, more like what you were paying before. I see my coach 3 times a week.

@redfacebigdisgrace the standard option for SBTD is four days a week but with options for three day or five day.

Your PT class is more than I pay for capoeira and jiu jitsu combined, which although are much bigger classes, I do receive a lot of expertise/instruction in them. If you like the social aspect of group classes you could see what else is in the area - eg maybe strength train at home but see if there's something a bit more unusual to try - olympic lifting for the technique, or calisthenics, acro, there's loads out there!

Yes I think that is a lot for classes that don’t quite work for you. As I’ve said I’ve cut back on my cali classes (included in my 45pcm membership but that is very unusual and tho brilliant the instructirs are a bit young and unreliable) because the structure and focus isn’t quite right for me and even tho they ar effectively free they “use up” a workout.

i think strength classes have to be spot on once you know what you are doing because it is such a specific way to train. That doesn’t apply to everything tho - agree with @Proteinpud. I did an outdoor boot camp when I was missing group exercise and it worked really well. I needed to eg cut push ups and do squats instead if I h1d PT the next day but the instructor was fine with that, it was a great overall workout, and a good buzz.

Think my elbow is probably ready for boxing again but I am not sure I am going back - enjoying going all in on strength with longer workouts and doing more weights alongside the cali. I’m doing my super slow running for cardio and will try to do the odd step class or sprints or something for intervals sometimes. But I feel better rested this way and think I probably need to save my upper body for the gym atm!

That is a lot!

I pay £30 pm for my gym membership (very reasonable for 24 hour access & free classes), plus then my PT sessions at £40 a pop. I generally do 2 PT sessions a week, so in total around £350 per month, and all tailored around me - in the classes, I follow the instructor, but as there are at most 10 in each class, and generally more like 4 - 6, even the group classes can be quite personalised.

It seems to me it's good value compared with what you're looking at, even if it's more cash.

Hi @YellowAsteroid yes that’s what I was doing before. £35per PT session. Two per week plus gym membership £30. She also
programmed me two extra sessions that I did myself.

My PT has now left and changed careers. And to be honest I needed a change. But I’m not sure this will work. It’s too generic. I do like the structure of the classes though as I get bored very easily. Warm up, specific activation. Two strength moves then two accessories then a finisher. I’m doing three per week plus a lower body bands and weights class (lower weights) as they offer that too in addition. The owner has said he’ll programme me an extra session to do myself but I think I’ll need to work out what I want to work on…

Its a lot less time spent in the gym as I was having to wait on machines, got distracted etc…