The Bodybuilders Thread!

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Thanks Hemps, we should start a pics of my setup like the Home Theater or PC guys have
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Mines in a 4 car garage which needs walls to be painted, pretty bleak at the moment, then I'll post pics.
Found a guy on gumtree who is selling his gym contents, I was like kid in a candy store, signed up for 3x benches (flat, incline, decline); cable crossover machine, some dumbells, t-bar fixed row.

He has hack squat machine etc but at R4000 just too pricey.
 
Hemps said:
Mines in a 4 car garage which needs walls to be painted, pretty bleak at the moment, then I'll post pics.
3x benches (flat, incline, decline); cable crossover machine, some dumbells, t-bar fixed row.

He has hack squat machine etc but at R4000 just too pricey.
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Nice, some serious kit there, anyone else with a home gym setup with pics?
 
Tinuva said:
So yesterday went to Tygervalley VA for a change, wanted to go to a gym closer to home, was a bit lazy. To my surprise, they had 2 squat racks again!! Super happy about that, it means I will be able to go to Tygervalley again instead of Durbanville.


I had a look at my back the other day, and must say I am very satisfied with the looks. And this is something I never focused on. I think that really worked for me, was a combination of going heavy on pendlay(barbell) rows and then follow up pull-ups (wide and normal width grips) and sometimes chin-ups. Better than that, I think back is the one reason why I am still able to progress nicely with weight on the bench press.
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And that is possibly why I suck at bench press and pull-ups , my back must be weak.

Could I (according to BB principles) work chest and still improve chest size despite not pushing an impressive weight? I think I've lost strength not benching heavy enough and not enough calories perhaps and bad sleeping patterns! To pull off 5 sets of 8 reps requires I bench only 40kg :(

edit: vvv Thanks Orihalcon, I'll do that :)
 
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Simple biology...you eat enough nutritional calories...you excercise the muscle till failure (safely) and you shall grow.
 
So I didn't make it to gym tonight so did some quick supersets at home, push ups, dips and, tricep kickbacks and overhead tricep extension (i think that is what they are called)

and fsck me I think I will actually be sore for a change tomorrow/wednesday
 
D3x! said:
So I didn't make it to gym tonight so did some quick supersets at home, push ups, dips and, tricep kickbacks and overhead tricep extension (i think that is what they are called)

and fsck me I think I will actually be sore for a change tomorrow/wednesday
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I just recently started lifting again and I had forgotten about these!
 
Science Says You Should Ditch the Unstable Surface Training

bromster said:
This is why I keep harping on about freeweight and bodyweight exercises. So many people only do isolation exercises on machines, which might be great for your triceps or chest for a while, but everyday life requires movement at all kinds of funny angles which is where machines will always fall short.

People ask why I do exercises on stability balls, or why I do my overhead press standing up, but after they try it they realise that to have any kind of real-world functional strength, you need to focus on training your body as a whole.
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http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-...ou-should-ditch-the-unstable-surface-training
For the first result of the study - drum roll, please - the researchers determined that the more weight that was lifted, the greater the activity of the muscles. This was true irrespective of the surface. They then discovered that the surface itself did not alter muscle activation. That’s right, the unstable surface did not perform better than the stable one. And presumably the maximum lift for the stable surface was higher, but hard to say because they researchers didn’t test this. If you’re wondering why they didn’t test if the maximum the subjects could lift was comparable on the unstable surface, the reason is probably because it’s not safe to do so. To me, that alone should tell you something.

Since training load was the substantial factor in muscle activation, the researchers suggested ditching unstable surface training, although acknowledging they didn’t test the deeper musculature, which may have had a different result. To this end, researchers noted rightly that few sports are performed on an unstable surface so it’s probably a bad idea to waste your time with it.
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ryan411 said:
http://breakingmuscle.com/strength-...ou-should-ditch-the-unstable-surface-training
For the first result of the study - drum roll, please - the researchers determined that the more weight that was lifted, the greater the activity of the muscles. This was true irrespective of the surface. They then discovered that the surface itself did not alter muscle activation. That’s right, the unstable surface did not perform better than the stable one. And presumably the maximum lift for the stable surface was higher, but hard to say because they researchers didn’t test this. If you’re wondering why they didn’t test if the maximum the subjects could lift was comparable on the unstable surface, the reason is probably because it’s not safe to do so. To me, that alone should tell you something.

Since training load was the substantial factor in muscle activation, the researchers suggested ditching unstable surface training, although acknowledging they didn’t test the deeper musculature, which may have had a different result. To this end, researchers noted rightly that few sports are performed on an unstable surface so it’s probably a bad idea to waste your time with it.
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Excellent find. I remember reading something similar, but not always remember where I read something, sometimes its hard to find it again to quote it.
 
Had one of my best deadlifts routines yesterday, had time on my hands so I could warm up properly.

Started with 5 sets bent over laterals
25 wide grip pullups
Then hit Deadlifts, did 5 sets with around 100kg - 120kg
Then upped weight by 10 - 15kg increments and ended up on 1 rep of 182kg, felt like I could of done 2 reps but didn't want to take chances, was one of those routines where I know my form was perfect as the weight flowed up my legs and down again.

After deadlifts went right into side laterals paired with wide grip upright rows using ez-bar.
Finished off with military presses of 60kg but only used partial presses as I was exhausted, I just place 60kg on my squat rack, stand underneath and try and lift with good form and not using legs, lift around 40cm from chest height, rinse and repeat.

Feeling it in my upper back today.
 
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Tinuva said:
I am an ectomorph, and I believe you should go all the way down till the bar touch your chest on the bench press. If you have pain in your wrist, it means you are doing something wrong, in fact if you ever have hurting pain, it means you are doing something wrong. However in this case I don't think ROM (range of motion) is the reason.

One thing I see most guys do wrong at the gym, is how they hold the bar in their palm. If the bar is in the middle of your palm, your hand is 90 degrees to your arm...guess what, you are going to cry with the pain this will cause on your wrists, especially once you start going heavier on the bench.

The correct way, is to have the bar lie on the inner edge of your palm, ie. right above your wrist, so your hand is more like 35degrees to your arm. This way, the weight lies directly on your arms, so only assisted by the hands, but not held by the hands.

As for going down to your chest, instead of having the bar over your shoulders, it should be closer to your nipples, so your arms is 45 degrees from your body. Next thing you also need to do is, before you start your bench, pull your wings on your back together, and almost stand with your weight on your shoulders instead of the middle of the back. Thats right, pull back your shoulders, this will prevent you from using your shoulders while benching.

All of the above, I learned from powerlifters, and it helps a lot when going heavy on the bench, even when you do over 100kg and do FULL range of motion, all the way down to your chest, pause and back up.
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I don't have pain in my wrist. Only in my right rotator cuff (shoulder) and have since read that when an ectomorph goes below parallel (upper arm to floor) when letting the bar touch the chest s/he places immense strain on the elbow and shoulder.

Have a look at this link and scroll down to the ''Ectomorph Bench Press'' piece. If you look at the comparative pictures you'll see the difference between a ''regular'' guy and an ectomorph when benching with the bar touching their chests. Now I'm no guru on the topic but it would be safe to say that due to very different body structures, what can be seen as optimum and ideal for one won't necessarily be optimum and ideal for another.

http://bonytobeastly.com/ectomorph-weightlifting/
 
Hemps said:
Had one of my best deadlifts routines yesterday, had time on my hands so I could warm up properly.

Started with 5 sets bent over laterals
25 wide grip pullups
Then hit Deadlifts, did 5 sets with around 100kg - 120kg
Then upped weight by 10 - 15kg increments and ended up on 1 rep of 182kg, felt like I could of done 2 reps but didn't want to take chances, was one of those routines where I know my form was perfect as the weight flowed up my legs and down again.

After deadlifts went right into side laterals paired with wide grip upright rows using ez-bar.
Finished off with military presses of 60kg but only used partial presses as I was exhausted, I just place 60kg on my squat rack, stand underneath and try and lift with good form and not using legs, lift around 40cm from chest height, rinse and repeat.

Feeling it in my upper back today.
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I dream of the day I can do one pullup...

I was watching videos of snatches and cleans yesterday and realised that deadlifts are actually just half the equation...
 
I dream of the day I can do one pullup...
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Practice makes perfect, most people starting out can't do more than 3 so don't feel bad, the gym's I used to frequent almost had dust on their pullup bars, for some reason not many people do them and instead go for lat pulldown's.

I only weigh 75kg so that might make it easier for me as well.
 
thestaggy said:
I don't have pain in my wrist. Only in my right rotator cuff (shoulder) and have since read that when an ectomorph goes below parallel (upper arm to floor) when letting the bar touch the chest s/he places immense strain on the elbow and shoulder.

Have a look at this link and scroll down to the ''Ectomorph Bench Press'' piece. If you look at the comparative pictures you'll see the difference between a ''regular'' guy and an ectomorph when benching with the bar touching their chests. Now I'm no guru on the topic but it would be safe to say that due to very different body structures, what can be seen as optimum and ideal for one won't necessarily be optimum and ideal for another.

http://bonytobeastly.com/ectomorph-weightlifting/
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My apologies, I definitely responded on the incorrect pain. Either way that article gives excellent advice. Still do a complete ROM, but shortened by lifting your chest, by arching your back. I do that as well, which is something I learned from powerlifting. On top of that, I still push my shoulders back as mentioned in the previous post you quoted.

I know this doesn't sound like much, but I have done bench press up to 100kg as an ectomorph weighing only 70kg without a spotter, and I have never hurt my shoulders whilst doing the Bench press. Technique is super important, and is what I tried to explain in my post you quoted.
 
thestaggy said:
http://bonytobeastly.com/ectomorph-weightlifting/
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Oh my word, that article is awesome. It explains exactly why I loved to deadlift heavy. I believe 80% of my success in the gym is from going heavy on the deadlift and building a great back as foundation. I am almost at 200% of my bodyweight. My back definitely is one of things I am proud of not, not so much as how it looks, but more the stability it gives me overall, and how it rolls over and help the other lifts. Going heavy on deadlift helped me going heavy on bench and squats, and somewhat in OHP. Maybe I should focus on it again and get it up higher.
 
@themba990: I'm gonna get me one of those door frame pullup bars so i can do neutral grip pull ups! I too suck at normal pullups. Neutral grip I suck less at. I'll aim to improve on neutral grip and chin ups and hopefully it will translate to normal overhand grip.

http://jasonferruggia.com/the-shocking-truth-about-chin-ups/
The Shocking Truth About Chin Ups

The straight bar chin up with your palms facing you places too much stress on the wrists, elbows and shoulders and should be eliminated from your program.

Even if you haven’t experienced it yet chances are good that a steady diet of supinated (palms facing you) straight bar chin ups may come back to bite you in the ass… or elbow, eventually.

Pull ups (palms facing away from you) on a straight bar are a bit safer but could also be eliminated if you want to be ultra conservative or you have any shoulder problems.

The simple solution is to stick with neutral grip chin/pull ups with your palms facing each other. You can mix up the grip width and have numerous options to play with.

Another great option is a chin up or pull up done on an angled or EZ/zig zag style chin up bar.

<snip>
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I must admit, I never really liked the chinup hold, but I find I can do it, but I only do it like 2 times a month maybe, I do the pull-up variations a lot more.
 
Oh my word, that article is awesome. It explains exactly why I loved to deadlift heavy. I believe 80% of my success in the gym is from going heavy on the deadlift and building a great back as foundation. I am almost at 200% of my bodyweight. My back definitely is one of things I am proud of not, not so much as how it looks, but more the stability it gives me overall, and how it rolls over and help the other lifts. Going heavy on deadlift helped me going heavy on bench and squats, and somewhat in OHP. Maybe I should focus on it again and get it up higher.
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Also one exercise I wish I had started earlier.
What weight are you up to now on deadlifts?
 
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