The Bodybuilders Thread!

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Tman* said:
So today I stepped on the scale again to see if I have made any progress since the 2nd of Jan.

Im happy to report my training program and low carb diet seems to be working well.

I have lost 2.5kg in the last 2 weeks, if you ask me that was probably just fat from all the beer I drank over the festive season.

I realise that its going to be a while before I reach my long term goal of 7kg total, but I am still pretty motivated!
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UPDATE: Im down 5kg so far.

Current stats 184cm, 86.5kg.

Im feeling energetic and ive also seen some progress in the GYM. I think my weight loss will slow down quite a bit now as I dont want to reduce my serving portions, and Im probably also gaining some muscle.
 
Tinuva said:
In short, yes.

You want to all the big compound moves, or at least the list below.
Deadlift - Overalll strength for lifting heavy objects from the ground properly
Squat - Legs, but includes a lot of core stability
Flat Barbell Bench Press - Chest
Standing Over Head Press - Shoulders, but true measure of upperbody strength
Barbell Rows/Pendlay Rows - Back, needed for a good foundation for Bench Press
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Thanks Tinuva, I've finally gotten round to checking out stronglifts.com properly and am going to get started on all the exercises in it. Amazingly simply and they are the exercises you have listed :)

Lol, when one signs up they send you a 200 page PDF but once I skimmed through it, the only thing it seems one really has to read (assuming you believe the program is good) are pages 41 to 47!

For deadlifts I've been doing 4 sets of 8 reps, lifting my bodyweight. Noticed my form started to suffer after 5 reps so I changed to 5 x 5 at the same weight the last one or two workouts. No more back stiffness the next day, I guess my lower back has adjusted or I am not using it as much as I did when i started due to better form. Have to work on upper back but I guess the bent over rows will sort that out.

edit2: Sadly I see he advocates only 1 set of 5 reps for deadlifts, excluding the two warm up sets that is. I guess squats will be challenging enough so I shouldn't miss the deadlifts too much. He did say one would be fried by then anyways so it will be a good thing that there's only one set of deadlifts :p
 
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Another awesome compound exercise is front squats...
BBFrontSquat.gif

It engages the core quite solidly and good for avoiding neck injuries. It may take a bit of time to work the weight up though.

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/Arti...Best_Tips_for_Increasing_the_Front_Squat.aspx
My Best Tips for Increasing the Front Squat
...
A fourth reason can be found in sport science research. EMG data suggest that the front squat is more effective than the back squat for activating the vastus lateralis and the rectus femoris; and biomechanical analysis indicates that the front squat places less compressive forces on the knee. In other words, the front squat works the quads harder with less stress on the knees.
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And the forgotten hamstrings...
These are pretty awesome

[video=youtube;oa6Ai5ty6oY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa6Ai5ty6oY[/video]
 
ryan411 said:
Thanks Tinuva, I've finally gotten round to checking out stronglifts.com properly and am going to get started on all the exercises in it. Amazingly simply and they are the exercises you have listed :)

Lol, when one signs up they send you a 200 page PDF but once I skimmed through it, the only thing it seems one really has to read (assuming you believe the program is good) are pages 41 to 47!

For deadlifts I've been doing 4 sets of 8 reps, lifting my bodyweight. Noticed my form started to suffer after 5 reps so I changed to 5 x 5 at the same weight the last one or two workouts. No more back stiffness the next day, I guess my lower back has adjusted or I am not using it as much as I did when i started due to better form. Have to work on upper back but I guess the bent over rows will sort that out.

edit2: Sadly I see he advocates only 1 set of 5 reps for deadlifts, excluding the two warm up sets that is. I guess squats will be challenging enough so I shouldn't miss the deadlifts too much. He did say one would be fried by then anyways so it will be a good thing that there's only one set of deadlifts :p
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For beginners, a single set of deadlifts are plenty, however since you have already been doing it a while, you could always just do 5 sets, which is what I did. It did own me completely though back then.

Stronglifts is a great beginner program, I would never be where I am now without it.

ps. Once deadlift goes far beyond your bodyweight, it will start to own you :)
 
My personal experience with DL is a bitter sweet one. I love the exercise. As a compound lift it is amazing. But please dont be like me and get cocky with your plates. I started off with 1 plate, form was good. Then I quickly moved onto 2 plates in a matter of weeks since 1plate was really light. As I moved onto higher weight numbers my form deteriorated and now my lower back arches abit when I DL heavy. I never felt pain once then stopped DLing for 2months leaving me to squats and bench as my current compound lifts. I would do OHP but my shoulders are snappy as hell. I have only now started DLing again and will take my time to ease into it again.
 
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I personally slack lately on my DL and Squats, though I am keeping them around the 2 plate margin, +- 90-100kg for both.

Pendlay's I don't feel bad about, but I am not pushing them either, keeping them at 80kg.
Bench, is what I work at again, I should probably stop once I get to 100kg and get the other lifts up to par with it.
OHP.../sigh I can't get past 50kg on this one, and I feel this is my weakest lift, not only in numbers, but also with technicalities, where I am pretty certain I don't do it 100%. Also have lots of reading, I find what I am doing on it is natural, and that it comes down to a simple fact, my shoulders are also very weak, so my spine takes over some of the load, which is not exactly what I want either.

What I have found is, it is hard to find the correct starting position on deadlifts, many people say, yeah easiest lift ever to do correct, but I beg to differ, like CM159 says, the heavier you go, the more difficult it become to keep form up.
 
With deadlifts, make sure you're body is tight just before you lift, squeeze everything, hands, butt, bar, back, legs, everything.... Helps me keep form. I find near end of a session my back starts to give way, it's ok for your upper back to bend a bit, I'm doing a 10 plate lift on Wednesday, and I can guarantee you my upper back isn't going to hold out, it's also on my 7th set out of 12, so I'll already be dead.

With overhead press, try start with the bar on the ground, and with your first lift, get it up in one smooth motion, you'll probably find the rest of the set a lot easier... I've mentioned before, I struggle with the first rep, after that I'm good.
 
xrapidx said:
With deadlifts, make sure you're body is tight just before you lift, squeeze everything, hands, butt, bar, back, legs, everything.... Helps me keep form. I find near end of a session my back starts to give way, it's ok for your upper back to bend a bit, I'm doing a 10 plate lift on Wednesday, and I can guarantee you my upper back isn't going to hold out, it's also on my 7th set out of 12, so I'll already be dead.

With overhead press, try start with the bar on the ground, and with your first lift, get it up in one smooth motion, you'll probably find the rest of the set a lot easier... I've mentioned before, I struggle with the first rep, after that I'm good.
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10 plate being 220? A month or so ago my best lift was 280, did a 290 once, now I'm back on 270. Not sure why :( Probably my eating and drinking habits LOL.
 
Slootvreter said:
10 plate being 220? A month or so ago my best lift was 280, did a 290 once, now I'm back on 270. Not sure why :( Probably my eating and drinking habits LOL.
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Yeh... Want to get 3 reps. I stuffed up my hip last year, and have only started making progress again this year. I also was on diet last year, lost 30kg, but it cost me a serious amount of strength.
 
xrapidx said:
Yeh... Want to get 3 reps. I stuffed up my hip last year, and have only started making progress again this year. I also was on diet last year, lost 30kg, but it cost me a serious amount of strength.
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This is the problem. Losing too much weight also causes massive strength loss. :( I do about 7 or 8 220 before I jump to 260. Perhaps I should only do 3 or 4, and try heavier, the leading sets might be exhausting me too much.
 
Yeh, I do heavy sets once month, with about 4-5min between sets. My squats went to hell though, down from 180kg to 140 kg now, and I'm struggling to up that with my hip still giving problems.

I expected the strength loss last year as I was eating a huge deficit the entire year. I've put on 10kg since then, and will try and loose it again in April by running a 6 week HIIT program I found. I want to keep my weight between a 100 and 110kg... And a max waist of 36". So I'll run a high calorie diet for three to four months, and then a cut for six weeks.
 
Also toned down my Deadlifts this year, knocking around 130 - 140kg, I do around 7 -9 sets, 1min rest in between.
After dead lifts - Bent over barbell rows.

There's a guy called Kei Green - has some YouTube videos I'd recommend for people - Train with Kei.

I'm really getting into the mind and muscle co-ordination, especially on chest and have actually lowered the weight on my chest routine and increased the temp per set, press as quickly as I can, lower as slowly as I can, keep the arc, contract my pecs.
I'm seeing quick results already.

For Shoulders , I have only last week got my muscle and mind co-ordination in sync, shoulders were worked hard last week.
 
One guy who has ridiculous dead-lift form is Derek Poundstone. His form on 300kg+ DL is almost perfect. Check him out on YouTube.
 
Ah the deadlift...and it's form.

Seems so simple yet so easy to let it slip...along with a disk in the back!

Bar close to shin, butt out, chest out, blades back and down...squeeze...lift!

Had to do them side on with low weights for a few weeks before I was comfortable with the form...once you have it though you can feel when you out of allignment.

The one thing that many people seem to forget - and it is a small issue - is having your shoulders in allignment over the bar.
 
The bar should be in the middle of your feet when standing straight up... One thing that grates me as its asking for an injury, is overextending your back at the top of the lift, I see guys almost bending over backwards trying to do this, granted, they are guys who don't look capable of heavy lifts, so they're probably not going to hurt themselves.
 
xrapidx said:
The bar should be in the middle of your feet when standing straight up... One thing that grates me as its asking for an injury, is overextending your back at the top of the lift, I see guys almost bending over backwards trying to do this, granted, they are guys who don't look capable of heavy lifts, so they're probably not going to hurt themselves.
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This is so true and I was guilty of this till not so long ago...:( Always thought you had to lean back to "lock-out" due to seeing pro's do so in compitition. It is, as you rightly say, so unnecessary. Just stand up straight with locked knees and squeeze the glutes. Done.

Another area where people tend to make form mistakes is when lowering the bar...so easy to just let gravity take over...DON'T! Asking for injuries...believe me...:cry:
 
xrapidx said:
The bar should be in the middle of your feet when standing straight up... One thing that grates me as its asking for an injury, is overextending your back at the top of the lift, I see guys almost bending over backwards trying to do this, granted, they are guys who don't look capable of heavy lifts, so they're probably not going to hurt themselves.
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I've seen it extend into a barbell shrug and have done this myself, though not necessarily extended back.
 
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