Gym And Supplement Discussion

[bozodos]

I thought 5x5 was 5 sets, 5 reps and done by intermediate lifters to gain strength :S

[Birds]

Fk your sets and reps in the ass.

Lift more

Eat more

Rest more

If you don't see progress, you're not doing one of these enough.

[No Crust Racing]

Question for you Markos, how have you gone about helping any of your guys that have ever had any sort of hammy strains.

I've been doing some reading as this strain of mine just will not go away, tried to get back into stretching it and using it but the next day it's just angry.

A few resources have said single led romanian deadlifts to specifically target the most common hammy weaknesses.

What are your thoughts?

[bozodos]

Fk your sets and reps in the ass.

Lift more

Eat more

Rest more

If you don't see progress, you're not doing one of these enough.

Birds I know about the relation of effort vs results, but particular sets and reps are done to achieve particular results. I did some reading that suggested that 5x5 is a poor compromise over singles or 3 reps for strength, and 8-12 reps for hypertrophy. Irrelevant for a beginner / intermediate lifter? More than likely. I was curious about the type of training that rev does and what Markos uses on his advanced lifters that has very low reps and long rest periods, as I've never heard of it before.

on another note, have a read of this, interesting article http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/dont-take-your-vitamins.html

Edited August 29, 2013 by bozodos

[L33SH]

on another note, have a read of this, interesting article http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/dont-take-your-vitamins.html

I'm probs gonna die soon then

[Trozzle]

Third time squatting since January (first time was on Sunday lol) and I'm happily back to 120kg 5x5 ATG. Grabbed one of the PTs to just check my form to ensure there's nothing seriously wrong with it (since surprisingly I feel absolutely fine this time round) and the only thing he had to say was that I was a tiny bit forward at the very bottom of the squat, taking weight off my heels as I start to stand again. Unsure what the cause of this will be, but likely either foot positioning or lack of hip flexibility.

Either way everything considered, I'm happy with this effort so far haha. Not sure if I'll stick with a 5x5 routine or increase reps (and maybe decrease sets). Drop it back to 100kg and aim for 5 sets of 10 reps?

[No Crust Racing]

Good news man

[L33SH]

Awesome news Troy!!! That's a good weight

I tried to bench the bar the last night; was in a world of a pain so I stopped and started crying, couldn't stop crying so left. Huge mental fail right there.

[No Crust Racing]

WUT?!

Turn failure into success Leesh. I can't do pretty much any leg work at the moment due to hammy to just using the extra time and energy to get more done on upper body = winning.

So in your case, can't bench/use shoulders, time to smash squats and DLs etc, boom dat ass etc.

[-FIGJAM-]

Boz,

5x5 is not a magic program, it has a following of people who love it and rave on about it. There are a few different versions of the 5x5 program - Madcows, Starting Strength, Strong Lifts to name a few.

I have done it, I got a bit stronger yes, looks went down hill, felt like a lazy arse workout though. I was tired at the end of every day yes, but doing 3 exercises on any given day was hardly overally difficult.

First few weeks of the program I was finished the routine in 30 min. Longest I got to was 1hr and 15 minutes.

It serves a point, but I'd consider it to be a beginners program. Last page Markos said who designed the program and why.

It was for PE Teachers to give to high school students because they had no idea about weight training. There are also a lot of people out there who argue it was more specific for high school footballers who were already strong, but that is debatable.

[bozodos]

I had to force myself to not train last night ,as I had a sore supraspinatus from benching like an idiot the other day and flaring my elbows out / having the bar too far up.

Edited August 29, 2013 by bozodos

[L33SH]

WUT?!

Turn failure into success Leesh. I can't do pretty much any leg work at the moment due to hammy to just using the extra time and energy to get more done on upper body = winning.

So in your case, can't bench/use shoulders, time to smash squats and DLs etc, boom dat ass etc.

I don't want to work on my legs though I need to work my upper body. I already have man quads. Mentally I'm just in a dark place and I feel lost and alone and I don't know how to get out

[No Crust Racing]

You might be burnt out mentally then.

Could be time to take a week or two off, eat what you like, not shave your legs, have a Fast and Furious marathon, etc etc

Just chill and recharge.

[L33SH]

You might be burnt out mentally then.

Could be time to take a week or two off, eat what you like, not shave your legs, have a Fast and Furious marathon, etc etc

Just chill and recharge.

I've just done that. This is coming up to the third week of no exercise at all. I'm not burnt out mentally, I'm weak mentally. I don't know why I've changed and I don't know how to get back. Edited August 29, 2013 by L33SH

[rev210]

More than likely. I was curious about the type of training that rev does and what Markos uses on his advanced lifters that has very low reps and long rest periods, as I've never heard of it before.

At the moment I'm not doing anything training wise in that manner, just bits and bobs to get my body moving. Long rests and lifting maximal weight goes hand in hand. If the weight is near maximal then the body is taxed in a bigger way. Including nervous system & heart/blood pressure. Long rests are about 'long enough'. Long enough to be ready to lift will full system support. Good nervous system activation of muscle plays a big part in lifting heavy.

Rest gaps between days in training is also about the system recovery and peak recovery growth/repair of muscle. I would rest for sometimes weeks between workouts. Depending on what I had worked out was the recovery cycle for that movement.

This next bit about recovery time, contains some generalisations.

When you lift heavy to stimulate growth , you tear muscles down. It's a series of micro injuries. The body repairs and adds extra muscle to adapt. There is a period of recovery, where you have less functional muscle that can be used (you destroyed some) upto the 100% point. Then there is another period of additional growth beyond that. You will then have more muscle cells than before. Train too early and you can go backwards, though it may not be apparent as you can possibly move the same weight or slightly more. This is because we don't activate 100% of our muscle fibres in lifts and the body will switch to available ones to complete the effort. There is a resource demand in terms of food and a 'rate' of recovery effected by lots of factors.

One factor is demmand on the resources. If other parts of the body are being trained during this period (to a reasonably intense level) this will slow the rate of recovery. It can also cap the amount of additional repair growth.

What this means is that if you have done a decent job in the gym and are eating enough as an example. You can take 2 months or more off after a killer session and return to the gym lifting more weight.

Edited August 30, 2013 by rev210

[No Crust Racing]

I've just done that. This is coming up to the third week of no exercise at all. I'm not burnt out mentally, I'm weak mentally. I don't know why I've changed and I don't know how to get back.

Well shit Leesh you better get it together!

Work out what you respond to. Some people are great self motivators. That is, "f**k this shit I'm going to the gym to smash weights" and off they go. Others need external assistance, "Get off your f**king ass and go to the gym and smash weights" and off they go.

Some people work best with a specific goal, drop or gain X kilos by this date, achieve this strength benchmark in this time frame etc etc.

Just gotta work out what motivates you and try new things.

[bozodos]

ah yeah in the context of Starting Strength etc, then I get what you mean now! I thought it was a general comment about that rep range! Yeah I have seen the cult like following that SS and SL have - at the same time they have a lot of detractors as well. Have never tried them for myself, but I doubt that I'd go back to doing that little amount!

[rev210]

I had to force myself to not train last night ,as I had a sore supraspinatus from benching like an idiot the other day and flaring my elbows out / having the bar too far up.

Here's my tip for you. Stop benching for 6months. Build yourself a powerful upper back and shoulders. Go back to it and you will instantly lift like a hero compared to your best effort so far. That injury at what is a pretty light weight I am guessing, is about inbalance.

[bozodos]

That was with 100kg - I think that up until changing over to the PTC beginner program a couple of weeks ago, I had been training with imbalances due to always doing random isolation exercises without any actual routine or rhythm. I could do 90-95 fine, it was just that bit more weight that seemed to make it fall apart!

[Mitcho_7]

When you lift heavy to stimulate growth , you tear muscles down. It's a series of micro injuries. The body repairs and adds extra muscle cells to adapt. There is a period of recovery, where you have less functional muscle that can be used (you destroyed some) upto the 100% point. Then there is another period of additional growth beyond that. You will then have more muscle cells than before.

Dont mean to sound like an ass, but since when has human skeletal muscle been capable of hyperplasia?

Everything I have ever seen has shown evidence of hypertrophy only, so you get more sarcomeres (contractile units) within each muscle fibre but you dont get more muscle fibres.