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Oblomov Boblomov wrote:Oh also I've not heard of Gymbox. Is it essentially just a competitor to Hammer Strength?

It's a bit gimmicky like neon lights, a resident DJ at peak times but it's kitted out with plenty racks, Elieko bars and plates. Got reverse hypers, GHR and all sorts you don't tend to get in commercial gyms.

https://www.gymbox.com/

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:

blackoutHERO wrote:Started with some easy 120kg squats

strawberry float off

Sorry Won't mention the first day back weights I bench tonight. To be fair, I'm only like 8 weeks off since I had a home gym in Scotland before moving to London.

Starting to feel really good again have maintained a successful regime since the gyms reopened and the strength is definitely coming back.

Anyone have thoughts on trap bar deadlifts compared with a regular barbell? I'm thinking of making the switch. It sounds like it is overall a safer and even stronger lift, that hasn't been 'mainstream' due to the type of bar needed to do it.

blackoutHERO wrote:

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:Oh also I've not heard of Gymbox. Is it essentially just a competitor to Hammer Strength?

It's a bit gimmicky like neon lights, a resident DJ at peak times but it's kitted out with plenty racks, Elieko bars and plates. Got reverse hypers, GHR and all sorts you don't tend to get in commercial gyms.

https://www.gymbox.com/

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:

blackoutHERO wrote:Started with some easy 120kg squats

strawberry float off

Sorry Won't mention the first day back weights I bench tonight. To be fair, I'm only like 8 weeks off since I had a home gym in Scotland before moving to London.

Whilst I've heard of Gymbox, I can't think of any that are walking distance to Clapham (welcome to South London btw )!

Oblomov Boblomov wrote:Starting to feel really good again have maintained a successful regime since the gyms reopened and the strength is definitely coming back.

Anyone have thoughts on trap bar deadlifts compared with a regular barbell? I'm thinking of making the switch. It sounds like it is overall a safer and even stronger lift, that hasn't been 'mainstream' due to the type of bar needed to do it.

I bloody love the trap bar! So ignored by most!

If you aren't training for powerlifting then you might as well replace it with the trap bar.

Trap bars don't require over/under with the hands so bicep tears and asymmetric muscle development are less likely.

You can generally lift heavier so get more out of it, whilst being a safer lift due to shifting the weight from in front of the body to down the middle, regular deadlifts and regular squats can trigger my sciatica from years back but trap bar deadlifts don't seem to.

Not that I'm prepared to lift heavy on any lift that involves the back anymore, I don't ever want to herniate a disc again. Was the worst year of my life.

I'm also seeing some good progress now I'm back in a gym routine, feels good! Essentially gone back to a starting strength set up and getting back to where I used to be quite quickly which is nice!

That's interesting about the trap bar dl's GD, might give them a shot when I'm up to it.

Been seeing many specialists and the country lines are drawn - everyone I've seen in PL recommends surgery whereas in the UK they say it's too high risk and graded exercise is the way.

It does seem that my problem is a broken bone in my lower back; a lot of stretching and core work for a year now seems to have helped the herniated disc whereby I no longer get shooting pains down my legs.

I'm up to 5 minute runs and can do upper body work such as pull ups, chins and dips with the best of them so I'm hoping by July I can phase in light bench work, then from Aug/Sep start doing bodyweight squats and onto very light front squats. Probably no deadlifting this year, can already tell that will be a trigger.

Good luck with your recovery, Roc. Can't imagine how frustrated I'd be if I was in that position.

I finally tried trap bar deads for the first time yesterday and while the lifting itself felt great, it really strawberry floating hurt my hands! I'm hoping it'll be a quick adaptation as I recall similar issues when first starting other lifts, that have gone on to not be a problem.

All good, I'm pretty relaxed about it most of the time now. Not much I can do about it!

Does your gym allow chalk? That might ease any hand problems.

Rocsteady wrote:All good, I'm pretty relaxed about it most of the time now. Not much I can do about it!

Does your gym allow chalk? That might ease any hand problems.

Suppose so and at least you can do your upper body stuff for now. It's that thought in the back of your mind that I struggle with. Took me years to get over the problems with my knee and then my herniated disc as well. I'm pretty much past it all now but as soon as I feel a little twinge in one of the old problem areas I will immediately shut it down for the day out of caution.

I've been using chalk ever since I started there and no problems. I think others use it too and it's very much a lifters' gym so I'd be surprised. I am hopeful the pain will go away once my hands get used to holding the bar in that particular way.

Grumpy David wrote:
Whilst I've heard of Gymbox, I can't think of any that are walking distance to Clapham (welcome to South London btw )!

I get the tube to Elephant and Castle my man.

I think I've figured out why the strawberry float I've been so hungry for the past good few months. I've been eating way more porridge oats than I should be and it's just made me hungry for more. As of late I've cut that way back to about a half a cup, and sometimes even a quarter cup, and I no longer get the urge to eat more straight after finishing. Feels good.

I have a rack in my back garden now, is awesome. Still just doing light front squats, bench, ohp, etc. though.

My back's still pretty strawberry floated and my hip is causing issues too; genuinely think I strawberry floated my body in my 20s from lifting really heavy multiple times a week.

Still though, in a decent enough fitness place and happy with that.

Rocsteady wrote:I have a rack in my back garden now, is awesome. Still just doing light front squats, bench, ohp, etc. though.

My back's still pretty strawberry floated and my hip is causing issues too; genuinely think I strawberry floated my body in my 20s from lifting really heavy multiple times a week.

Still though, in a decent enough fitness place and happy with that.

It sounds trite af but staying positive really helps. Take progress as it comes, and try not to beat yourself up too much.

Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

ITSMILNER wrote:Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

You could drop the sets and aim for 4-6 reps for 3 sets but set the weight at 80% of your 1RM.

If you hit 6 reps for each set, increase the weight for next time.

I've been using this technique for a while now and it works well for me.

Been really gooseberry fool with fitness in 2021 (in terms of gym) I really need to up my game in 2022 and get back to some structure.

ITSMILNER wrote:Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

Sorry to hear that! Seems like the lingering effects of Covid is certainly to blame. Is your cardio also similarly reduced?

Does your pre work contain creatine?

I always found creatine with longer rests between sets allowed heavier lifts to be achieved.

I find to progress on bench press I need to do it as the first exercise in the gym and to do it 3x a week, anything less than making it priority number 1 means I struggle to improve. I tend to do 5x5 or 4x6 too. When I feel like I've hit a plateau then I quite like to do dumbbell bench press instead of dropping the barbell weight down.

abcd wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

You could drop the sets and aim for 4-6 reps for 3 sets but set the weight at 80% of your 1RM.

If you hit 6 reps for each set, increase the weight for next time.

I've been using this technique for a while now and it works well for me.

Grumpy David wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

Sorry to hear that! Seems like the lingering effects of Covid is certainly to blame. Is your cardio also similarly reduced?

Does your pre work contain creatine?

I always found creatine with longer rests between sets allowed heavier lifts to be achieved.

I find to progress on bench press I need to do it as the first exercise in the gym and to do it 3x a week, anything less than making it priority number 1 means I struggle to improve. I tend to do 5x5 or 4x6 too. When I feel like I've hit a plateau then I quite like to do dumbbell bench press instead of dropping the barbell weight down.

I never really did much running or anything but 25 minutes on a cross trainer knackers me out now

The pre workout I am using is this one https://www.dolphinfitness.co.uk/en/betancourt-bullnox-35-servings/45527 I used it before a few years back and I remember it did seem to help me get past limits I had (Could be a Placebo effect though)

Do you tend to stick to the same weight for all the sets or drop the weight per set?

ITSMILNER wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

Sorry to hear that! Seems like the lingering effects of Covid is certainly to blame. Is your cardio also similarly reduced?

Does your pre work contain creatine?

I always found creatine with longer rests between sets allowed heavier lifts to be achieved.

I find to progress on bench press I need to do it as the first exercise in the gym and to do it 3x a week, anything less than making it priority number 1 means I struggle to improve. I tend to do 5x5 or 4x6 too. When I feel like I've hit a plateau then I quite like to do dumbbell bench press instead of dropping the barbell weight down.

I never really did much running or anything but 25 minutes on a cross trainer knackers me out now

The pre workout I am using is this one https://www.dolphinfitness.co.uk/en/betancourt-bullnox-35-servings/45527 I used it before a few years back and I remember it did seem to help me get past limits I had (Could be a Placebo effect though)

Do you tend to stick to the same weight for all the sets or drop the weight per set?

25 minutes of any cardio is probably 20 more than the average adult can manage so I wouldn't be too embarrassed by that!

That pre work out does have creatine which is easily the most useful and beneficial supplement and isn't placebo, it definitely works.

Work sets for me are always the same weight, I've never even heard of 5x5 with 5kg drops each set. 5x5 is meant to be for a weight that you're able to do 5x5 without needing to reduce the weight. I'd only drop the weight if I wasn't confident with the next set (no spotter = extra cautious to not push it, want to avoid the roll of shame).

Grumpy David wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

Sorry to hear that! Seems like the lingering effects of Covid is certainly to blame. Is your cardio also similarly reduced?

Does your pre work contain creatine?

I always found creatine with longer rests between sets allowed heavier lifts to be achieved.

I find to progress on bench press I need to do it as the first exercise in the gym and to do it 3x a week, anything less than making it priority number 1 means I struggle to improve. I tend to do 5x5 or 4x6 too. When I feel like I've hit a plateau then I quite like to do dumbbell bench press instead of dropping the barbell weight down.

I never really did much running or anything but 25 minutes on a cross trainer knackers me out now

The pre workout I am using is this one https://www.dolphinfitness.co.uk/en/betancourt-bullnox-35-servings/45527 I used it before a few years back and I remember it did seem to help me get past limits I had (Could be a Placebo effect though)

Do you tend to stick to the same weight for all the sets or drop the weight per set?

25 minutes of any cardio is probably 20 more than the average adult can manage so I wouldn't be too embarrassed by that!

That pre work out does have creatine which is easily the most useful and beneficial supplement and isn't placebo, it definitely works.

Work sets for me are always the same weight, I've never even heard of 5x5 with 5kg drops each set. 5x5 is meant to be for a weight that you're able to do 5x5 without needing to reduce the weight. I'd only drop the weight if I wasn't confident with the next set (no spotter = extra cautious to not push it, want to avoid the roll of shame).

It was a guy at the gym, I explained to him that I was struggling and he suggested keeping a 5x5 routine but dropset style, trying to increase the weight by 2.5kg every 10-14 days. Not really working out that way for me though

So would you recommend I stick with 5x5 but maybe at this point drop the weight to something I can do 5x5 of and go from there? How often are you looking at increasing your weight or do you not set any targets to up the weight within a certain timeframe?

ITSMILNER wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:

Grumpy David wrote:

ITSMILNER wrote:Looking for some advice, i've currently hit a bit of a wall with how much I can lift and i'm struggling to get an increase in weight on chest press.

I'm currently doing a 5x5 routine but dropping the weight by 5kg for each set. I've hit a point where the heaviest I can do is 82.5kg which is roughly around my body weight. I got covid earlier this year and since then I have had issues with fatigue, prior to this the heaviest I got to was 97.5kg but I can't get anywhere near that now

Any advice on what I can do now i'm hitting a celling? Should I drop the weights and do a new routine? I am taking a pre-workout now as well but it's not really helping give me an extra push.

Sorry to hear that! Seems like the lingering effects of Covid is certainly to blame. Is your cardio also similarly reduced?

Does your pre work contain creatine?

I always found creatine with longer rests between sets allowed heavier lifts to be achieved.

I find to progress on bench press I need to do it as the first exercise in the gym and to do it 3x a week, anything less than making it priority number 1 means I struggle to improve. I tend to do 5x5 or 4x6 too. When I feel like I've hit a plateau then I quite like to do dumbbell bench press instead of dropping the barbell weight down.

I never really did much running or anything but 25 minutes on a cross trainer knackers me out now

The pre workout I am using is this one https://www.dolphinfitness.co.uk/en/betancourt-bullnox-35-servings/45527 I used it before a few years back and I remember it did seem to help me get past limits I had (Could be a Placebo effect though)

Do you tend to stick to the same weight for all the sets or drop the weight per set?

25 minutes of any cardio is probably 20 more than the average adult can manage so I wouldn't be too embarrassed by that!

That pre work out does have creatine which is easily the most useful and beneficial supplement and isn't placebo, it definitely works.

Work sets for me are always the same weight, I've never even heard of 5x5 with 5kg drops each set. 5x5 is meant to be for a weight that you're able to do 5x5 without needing to reduce the weight. I'd only drop the weight if I wasn't confident with the next set (no spotter = extra cautious to not push it, want to avoid the roll of shame).

It was a guy at the gym, I explained to him that I was struggling and he suggested keeping a 5x5 routine but dropset style, trying to increase the weight by 2.5kg every 10-14 days. Not really working out that way for me though

So would you recommend I stick with 5x5 but maybe at this point drop the weight to something I can do 5x5 of and go from there? How often are you looking at increasing your weight or do you not set any targets to up the weight within a certain timeframe?

Yeah I'd start my work set all at the same weight so that might be 70kg if you're doing 1x5 at 82.5kg.

We're actually similar bodyweight and pre lockdown strength too. Pre lockdown 1 I was doing 102.5kg 5x5 pretty easily (didn't feel like I needed a spotter etc).

So going back to those sorts of lifts is a lot easier compared to having never previously lifted that amount. I tend to add 2.5kg each session but I'm not arsed about chasing particular weights so quite often I'll do the same weight on the next session and do weekly increases instead. I always find my motivation goes out the window round this time of year too, the cold dark nights and increased alcohol related socialising makes for great excuses.