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Rocsteady wrote:Full rack, you know you want to

I've messaged them and they're going to sell the full rack without pulley which knocks a couple of hundred off the price...

Hime wrote:

Rocsteady wrote:Full rack, you know you want to

I've messaged them and they're going to sell the full rack without pulley which knocks a couple of hundred off the price...

Sounds great, post pics when it's all up!

Full rack only real choice.

Go hard or go to the gym.

Pulley or no pulley? I'm in two minds, I love using cables but I don't know if a plate loaded pulley will be the same. I could put that couple of hundred towards a proper cable machine or dumbbell rack down the line.

You got a link to it?

I'm a fan of cable machines but never had a 'plate loaded' one before so can't talk on the stability of that but cable machines have been very versatile in my experience especially with handle attachments and if you're able to alter the height of the handles.

blackoutHERO wrote:You got a link to it?

I'm a fan of cable machines but never had a 'plate loaded' one before so can't talk on the stability of that but cable machines have been very versatile in my experience especially with handle attachments and if you're able to alter the height of the handles.

That might not be the correct terminology but they are just a pulley attached to the rack and you add plates to and can only use it in one or two positions so would only be any good for lat pulldowns, face pulls, tricep push downs etc. They're fairly primitive compared to the cable machines you'd get in a gym, I suppose you could call them the purest form of a pulley.

Well then I think you're probably right to skip it and use the money elsewhere. Although couple hundred quid might be a good deal thinking about it. Depends how much you were planning on spending really.

Does anyone have a body fat estimation method which they'd recommend? My scales do one but it's absolutely worthless and sits at 18-20% regardless of huge fluctuations in weight. I'm thinking more along the lines of callipers or various weight and body measurement formulas.

I've been cutting since mid-March, which has been interesting with the lockdown meaning I haven't been able to train as I normally would.

I'm at 12 weeks of dieting (with one week at maintenance at about week 8 or 9) and have been steadily losing weight at slightly more than 0.5kg a week (84kg to 77.6kg morning weight yesterday). I don't think I've lost significant muscle but it's difficult to tell when I can't lift the weights I normally would to test my strength.


The reason I ask is because I thought I was starting this cut at about 15-18% bodyfat but looking back at my progress pictures, this appears to have been nigh on delusional and I was probably closer to 18-20%. I think I'm now closer to 15% but am not really sure if I'm a bit above or below that and I think I'd like to aim for closer to 10-12% bodyfat before starting a bulk which would ideally be capped at around 15%.

Harry Bizzle wrote:Does anyone have a body fat estimation method which they'd recommend? My scales do one but it's absolutely worthless and sits at 18-20% regardless of huge fluctuations in weight. I'm thinking more along the lines of callipers or various weight and body measurement formulas.

I've been cutting since mid-March, which has been interesting with the lockdown meaning I haven't been able to train as I normally would.

I'm at 12 weeks of dieting (with one week at maintenance at about week 8 or 9) and have been steadily losing weight at slightly more than 0.5kg a week (84kg to 77.6kg morning weight yesterday). I don't think I've lost significant muscle but it's difficult to tell when I can't lift the weights I normally would to test my strength.


The reason I ask is because I thought I was starting this cut at about 15-18% bodyfat but looking back at my progress pictures, this appears to have been nigh on delusional and I was probably closer to 18-20%. I think I'm now closer to 15% but am not really sure if I'm a bit above or below that and I think I'd like to aim for closer to 10-12% bodyfat before starting a bulk which would ideally be capped at around 15%.

Honestly the only thing I'd go by as a rough guess is 'how defined are my abs?' then when my belly button goes a bit weird I know I'm lean. The accuracy of all the well known methods of testing are widely disputed.

I believe the importance of body fat estimation is hugely overblown in this context in that you start to believe the lower the better when you might get peeled abs but look close to death in a T-Shirt.

Best measure in my opinion is just visually if you're able to post a pic or find a comparison chart.

Thanks. I'm not too fussed if I don't look good in a shirt. I don't really care what people think of how I look an I tend to wear baggy stuff in the gym to hide my power level, anyway.

My main reasons for wanting to get to around 10% are to see if I can do it, to be able to bulk and cut up and down between 10 and 15% and being in that range also helps make more meaningful comparisons comparing my own weight with other people of my height.

Have had a look at some comparisons and reckon I'm about 15%. Would post an accurate pic but I caught my reflection in a car window the other day and have decided to only acknowledge my own existence in convex mirrors.



I don't have any plans to be on a beach any time soon but might try to park a giant car right on the shore so people get the full experience at all times.

Big lad.

Obviously it's hard to tell in a distorted picture but to me you look less than 15% since your abs are pretty visible. Looks closer to 12%.

Harry Bizzle wrote:Thanks. I'm not too fussed if I don't look good in a shirt. I don't really care what people think of how I look an I tend to wear baggy stuff in the gym to hide my power level, anyway.

My main reasons for wanting to get to around 10% are to see if I can do it, to be able to bulk and cut up and down between 10 and 15% and being in that range also helps make more meaningful comparisons comparing my own weight with other people of my height.

Have had a look at some comparisons and reckon I'm about 15%. Would post an accurate pic but I caught my reflection in a car window the other day and have decided to only acknowledge my own existence in convex mirrors.



I don't have any plans to be on a beach any time soon but might try to park a giant car right on the shore so people get the full experience at all times.

Are you on a cycle? Absolute beast.

Jealous of that chest development

I get what you're saying man but it's impossible to give an accurate body fat calculation, especially from pictures like that. I think a better way to judge is cut down to when you have veins in your abdominals (if you're trying to be super lean) and bulk slowly until you start to get a little fluffy and start again.

First order for the home gym is in . Decided to skip the pulley as it came as part of a bundle so I decided to put the money towards a better barbell as bulldog fitness just got some back in stock.

Rocsteady wrote:Are you on a cycle? Absolute beast.

Living that natty life, sadly. I'm pretty skinny in a proper pic. I'm only about 77kg at 6ft. Lifts are nothing to write home about.

I think I will probably keep going for another 4-6 weeks, maybe until things like veins start to come in as Hime says and then aim for a mass phase, hopefully around the same time I can get back in the gym.


As a side note, I am absolutely hating training at the moment. I got two 12kg kettlebells and two 5kg dumbbells at the start of lockdown and the only way I can really get a half decent workout in is to do nearly every set to failure and only take about 10 seconds in between sets (I just take 5 deep breaths and carry on)

A leg workout starts off with about 6 or 7 sets of squats to failure with 5 deep breaths between sets and I absolutely hate it and am destroyed by the end of that. Genuinely feel like I'm going to puke by the end of it.

Getting back in the gym and just squatting heavy weight with a leisurely 2 minutes in between sets is going to feel so damn easy after this.

If you want to go OTT: find a DEXA scan. I'm gonna guess it'll be costly, though.

https://www.bodyscanuk.com/

Saint of Killers wrote:If you want to go OTT: find a DEXA scan. I'm gonna guess it'll be costly, though.

https://www.bodyscanuk.com/

There’s a place near me called the Oxford biobank which collects samples for studies and they do a dexa and some blood tests when you enroll, for free (obviously they use the data for their work).

I contacted them yesterday and they’re starting up again in September, so definitely going to try and get that done, more out of curiosity than anything else. I think they vary quite a lot when people get them done in terms of how lean someone looks and I wouldn’t pay for one but for free I’m super keen.

Harry Bizzle wrote:

Saint of Killers wrote:If you want to go OTT: find a DEXA scan. I'm gonna guess it'll be costly, though.

https://www.bodyscanuk.com/

There’s a place near me called the Oxford biobank which collects samples for studies and they do a dexa and some blood tests when you enroll, for free (obviously they use the data for their work).

I contacted them yesterday and they’re starting up again in September, so definitely going to try and get that done, more out of curiosity than anything else. I think they vary quite a lot when people get them done in terms of how lean someone looks and I wouldn’t pay for one but for free I’m super keen.

Dexa scans aren't 100%, they can be tricked. We've got one near us and I have contemplated getting one before but I'm not really sure why.

If you don't watch him already Greg Doucette does lots of videos on the topic.

I feel the same about my training, hurt my wrist at golf last week and can't hold my weight on it in the press up position. Normally I'd strap it up and find a way to power through but I don't really see the point to do sub optimal training.

Found some of the videos in question. Will check 'em out later. Cheers. (I'm a long way off from worrying about it, but I would like to get it done at some point. Though obviously not if the results can vary wildly or be otherwise manipulated.)

Saint of Killers wrote:Found some of the videos in question. Will check 'em out later. Cheers. (I'm a long way off from worrying about it, but I would like to get it done at some point. Though obviously not if the results can vary wildly or be otherwise manipulated.)

There is the accuracy but also what you're achieving. Something that struck a chord with me was if you're happy with how you look or your athletic ability is a number on the dexa going to change that? Vice versa obviously.