Getting Stronger
 

If there is anyone here that trains for strength, gimme a 'hoy'

There could be no one, and if that's the case, it just shows how rare it is. I mean yoga has its own forum section, so you can bet there's a few bendies around.

But does anyone here lift heavy things? 'Cus that is precisely what I do.

I used to, mate, but not anymore. I used to powerlift in the main by focusing on the three main lifts, but I realised I was doing it primarily for the wrong reasons (lack of self worth etc), so I stopped as there's no ceiling to it (for me); I was never 'satisfied'.

I have been contemplating, ever so slightly, getting back into it.

*raises hand*

I have heard many power-lifters tell their story about how their self esteem issues got them into lifting. In my case, I started out of emotional/psychological/body-image issues, and I was completely weak when I started. I couldn't squat or dead at all, or do 10 reps with the bar on bench. I'm pretty strong now so I squat 100kilo, dead 135 and my bench must be up around 80-85 somewhere, which is also my body weight. Not 'big numbers', but it's a long way from where I started from, and being over 50yo, it's pretty good for a newbie.

I want to compete in powerlifting in a couple of years time.

Just working to get another kilo on the bar, man.

Hi, Rainbow. How's training? Have you changed your program from the 5X5 or anything?

Me too.....I was a competitive powerlifter in my late teens till about 26 years old....

Now I'm an old guy lifter who still does it because I love it!

I do some weight training geared toward strengthening my body. I do more body weight training though.

My training is more for developing explosive speed, power, and endurance. My legs by far get the most training.


Congrats on your accomplishments. :smile:

You're getting strong now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnqZl_blT7E

Yeah, it definitely has some truth to it. Most of the people in the gym were the lowest self-esteemed people I'd ever met. I started for similar reasons to you; emotional and psychological issues, but had a very stop-start relationship with it.

I had an addictive personality back then so everything revolved around training, and I'd considered myself very strong at my prime, but the injuries weren't fun.

Well done to you for your progression :) And yeah, slowly adding a kilo here and there soon adds up. Slow and steady wins the race.

True, the injury side isn't fun, but it is part of the game, in just about any sport, so I manage intensity and fatigue to mitigate the risk, but I'm pretty much constantly working around some small thing that hurts. I don't go for fast progress in weight, though. I go for sustainability and long term results. I'm also similar to the way you were in that my life revolves around the barbell...

I appreciate that. I only lift heavy things, so there's no particular power or endurance involved, just raw lifting power. But this is just because I haven't conditioned the body to do explosive lifts. I do work on my mobility for the overhead barbell squat, though, and after I get pretty nimble at that, I'd like to learn the snatch and clean and jerk (olympic lifts)... Then I'll get some power and speed action to go along with strength. It just takes a while to train the body into the necessary postures.




Cheers

Great. You must have some great tips for us newer lifters. What would be your main rule of thumb for training for strength?

not yet. I've been a bit inconsistent with getting in the gym lately due to being really busy with the end of the semester but I might look into changing things up a bit once it's officially my summer break. I wanted to wait until I got my strength back up to lifting the same amount I was at before I took 5 months off following my old gym's fire, and all my lifts are now at or just past what I was lifting then so that's satisfying.

While,many powerlifters are big on the 5X5 program which is not bad at all....about 15 years ago I got introduced to "Dogcrapp training" and never looked back and in fact wish I would have known this when I was much younger.

First I gotta explain the name!

A man named Dante Trudel is one of the foremost trainers in the lifting world having trained a number of champions in both the bodybuilding and powerlifting worlds.

Dante's internet handle on a number of "lifting forums" was Dogcrapp...with two P's (don't ask me why..LOL!) and his training program got to be known in the industry as "Dogcrapp" training......

In short it is a lower volume, high intensity style of training that focus's on strength gains as a priority.

I could write a whole section on training this way but instead I'm going to post a link to a section of Dante's forum/website where he talks about his program.

http://www.intensemuscle.com/showthread.php?t=19724


I've been a lifter for 40 years and as I said...I wish i would have known about this several decades ago as I've never found anything that puts on muscle like this program does!.........But it's not easy!!!

Another link I'm going to post is to Clarence Bass
.
Clarence is one of the worlds foremost experts on competition diet...

These days, he's 80 years old and focus's heavily on longevity training and diet.....something that I've gotten into to a considerable degree the last few years since I've reached "old fart status"!

http://www.cbass.com/

Lifting, cardio and diet combined with longevity work have been a passion of mine for years so this will be an interesting thread for me!

duplicate post....

That sounds like the good mixed with the bad, the gym on fire = bad, but the rest sounds good! Better get to get the study done than be a total meat head, so good work, and good luck with skoolin'.

I did the 5X5 for about 6 months, but the weights started getting heavy and I wasn't progressing weekly anymore, so I switched to something that mixes lighter weights at higher reps along with some max effort triples and also more accessory work - because I needed higher volume to stimulate a response. There have been issues like getting stronger in the left leg than in the right leg, and shifting the weight to the left, so I have to do days especially to correct technique using light weights, slow reps, pause reps and use a mirror to watch my technique. I still do max deadlifts though... but I've added a lot of volume - 5 sets of 8 twice a week, and also back extensions, which for me prevents back pain. I study as well, to qualify as a personal trainer - and will finish that in June this year. In the course we have to role play workouts at least every week if not twice a week, so there's the added workouts I do at school, which I usually hate because they are mostly silly jumpingjack/burpee nonsense.

I'm working out a new routine which is different to what I've done before.

I stepped back form heavy squats because some problems with form were emerging. I tend to shift weight to the left side and as a result, one of my left quads have become bigger and stronger than the right. To correct this I now work on light squats in front of a mirror and make sure I stay in the centre, which is hard work because the left lean has become my 'natural habit'. After that I do Bulgarian split squats 7 reps on the left and 10 reps on the right, or unilateral leg press in the same rep range, to make the right stronger and balanced with the left.

I have dropped the weight on the other lifts as well, and now work in the 8 to 10 rep range so I can build muscle size. After 3 months of higher rep work, I'll load on the weight and work in 3-5 rep range to fully strengthen the new muscle mass. After a couple of months at heavy/low reps, I'll go into a peaking period for a couple of weeks to recover from the accumulated fatigue, and then I'll test my 1 rep max on the four lifts (squat, dead, bench, strict overhead press).

I spent the last 3 weeks working out the new routine, which has just started to come together. I now have a 6-day-week training regimen and a 6 month long training program, and I expect this plan to result in significantly more kilos on the bar.

Starts on April fools day - how apt.

Wow, 6 days a week?! I'd be seriously burnt out, yet there's some who can train so frequently and still continue to add weight to the bar.

In my 'peak' I only trained twice a week, so each muscle got trained once every 9 days. Goes against all gym beliefs, yet it worked very well and I was completely fresh making continual improvements.

Keep us updated :)

I'm basically just dedicated to training and have few other obligations, so I don't have significant additional stress outside of training. This enables me to train quite hard, but managing fatigue is a big part of that. Eating right, getting enough z's, and training at appropriate intensities is vitally important.

The program is designed to 'overreach', so I will accumulate fatigue, but not so much that I get burnt out and/or injured. The peak period is also the recovery period, so the volume of training will be minimal in the sense that I don't lose any strength, but I train minimally and only specifically the 4 lifts, so twice a week would probably be about right, I'd say. I reason that at the end of the 2 week peak I'll be as strong as possible without any fatigue. Then I'll try my 1 rep maxes. After that I'll tweak my program, and based on what I learned, design an improved 6 month training cycle.

I plan to compete in a couple of year from now, and place, so I'm highly motivated in chasing down the numbers.

Cheers, OEN34 - it's great to talk to someone who understands this stuff.

So today I pull a 140 kilo deadlift (no belt, wraps or lifting straps)... yay, 3 plates.

Always a good milestone three plates :)

I lift!
Quite frequently. 5 days a week minimum. Used to do a lot of hypertrophy lifting then moved into strength/power for a few months brought my deadlift from 155-255lbs in just over a month. Bench is hard for me due to tight shoulders. Squats are #1 in my mind for functional exercise. *** to grass baby.
Just became a personal trainer/group fitness instructor so I've been doing tons of cardio and muscle endurance training which is a lovely break from the heavy stuff and it shows you how much you can still improve fitness even if you have a nice physique/muscle size.

Hi, Synchroiicity. It's nice to have a fitness professional on board. I study fitness certificate IV (which is a personal trainer qualification) and will graduate in June. I don't actually like much of the fitness industry because I see a lot of people in group ex exercising with improper form, and I'm much more into correct bio-mechanics and good exercise technique. I am very particular about how squats, deadlifts, and other compound movements are executed, because as you say, they are 'functional motions' and correct movement is necessary for efficient function. My body was very disfunctional before I began training not two years ago, and through the 'big lifts' I have corrected a lot, but still work on my technique and motor function.

Do you follow fitness you tube channels?

I do both yoga and strength training.
It's good to keep the body healthy, training helps and creates discipline:smile:

I thought of doing some yoga to help in recovery from strength training, so I might get into that in the future.

I just lifts weight every other day, rotating with cardio, to maintain muscle tone and keep bones strong too. I use to lift a lot more weight and people would comment on my arms being "big guns" but I'm not about getting there anymore. It does indeed take a lot of effort, training, lifting and dedication to beef up like that. When it comes to cardio or weight training, it's much easier for me to get motivated to jump on the elliptical machine than to lift weights. I spend about the same amount of time doing each, but the weight lifting just seems to take more effort as well as concentration/thinking.

True. I almost dread training because strength training involves long training sessions, but it does make the bones really strong. It doesn't end with the gym, though, because I have to eat enough of the right food, too, and that involves counting calories and macros so I can get stronger but without blowing out and gaining too much fat. The intensity of the weights puts a lot of stress on the body, so it takes a lot out of you, and eating sleeping and resting also need to be right, or ya start to burn out.

I noticed over the last week or so I was getting a little bit of slight pain intermittently in one shoulder and I was worried about making it worse by straining the shoulder too much so today I de-loaded my bench and overhead press and I'm going to start adding some shoulder strengthening exercises to my workout regime. one of the trainers at my gym harps on me about my ****ty posture and has said I should work on strengthening my shoulders because I could injure them if they posture doesn't improve... I guess maybe he was right.... haha

Yep, the trainer is right, posture is important - and I hurt my shoulder by lifting too heavy before I got the posture right. The Starting programs like Stronglifts and Starting Strength have some issues, and my opinion now days is lifting technique has to come first, and the bar should only be loaded as the technique and the correct positions are mastered. The early linear loading principle is good and true, but without technique, the right postures and positions, the risk of harm escalates with the heavier weight.

Then, starting programs are only supposed to be run for 3-6 months, or until you progress more slowly like weekly or monthly. Then some 'tweaks' to the programming are needed. I found a free program which is designed for people who have reached this stage. Youi have to sign up to receive the free program, but Barbellmedicine.com is a good reputable lifting organisation, and this little training manual explains a lot of things: http://www.barbellmedicine.com/the-bridge/

I started out lifting reeeeeeeal light and slow to make sure my form and technique were on point, but I think as my lifts are getting heavier it's causing my form to get a bit shaky. I've been doing stronglifts for about a year and a half and I think it's time to change it up. I'm just putting it off because I honestly hate change, haha. I like my routine, I'm so used to it.

smart move

only up downs, pushups, and run anymore.

used to do all the major core lifts as you probably already know from previous conversations.

for me if i cant do it at a truck stop then i cant do it. lol. in any case im very happy with what im doing.

the discipline developed from weight training is priceless. branches into work, meditation, cooking, or just about anything. discipline may be the most important thing one can learn. no better way than weight lifting. you have to put forth the effort. you have to keep up with doing it religiously. you have to track your progress. and so on. not that somebody has to take it seriously. but for those that do the discipline developed is pretty big.

I changed gyms. My old gym was good, because it had timber lifting platforms for squat and deadlift, but recently I've had wait for ages for them - if I get to use them at all. This meant I couldn't train there. So I scouted the neighbourhood to see if there were better options and found a much larger gym with 3 squat racks and lifting platforms, better accessory equipment, 3 bench presses, and more functional training stuff (like push sled, battle ropes, boxing bags, TRX area). There's also a steam room and a 20M swimming pool.

I trained there for the first time today, and at the busiest time of day, but it wasn't too bad. I had to wait for a bench for about 10 minutes, which is OK, and I did a few pull ups and abs to finish off after benchin'.

I don't usually train at the busy times, so the new gym will be fine for me. I'm sure on most days I'll be able to go train and very rarely have to wait for anyone .

My gym is quite relaxing.. I rarely have to wait for anyone. I also like the atmosphere because it's available to all..
there's fat people and skinny people.. men and women.. young and old.. people with mental handicaps, etc.

I think the media portrays gyms often as places for certain kind of people only.. and this may put people off the idea. If everyone lived up to some 'ideal' many people would feel inadequate. Ultimately it's not about competition, it's about challenging ourselves and getting or staying healthy.

the YMCA where i lived in the states worked well. free weights. basketball court which was my main sport. other things that i wasn't interested in but others were.

Well for my job I lift lots of quite heavy stuff by myself on a daily base and I do feel slightly stronger than a while ago. Pretty nice alternative instead of hanging around a gym between them bunch of show-offs.

I do hope you aren't forcing it with your job. The great thing about a gym is that exercises can more easily be executed based on technique.
Whereas physical exercise through jobs may not stimulate this. Many construction workers for example develop issues.

I'm working on a half hour training sesh for a group of 3 clients called 'How to Keep your Back Straight in the Squat', aka 'Have a Sexy Squat'.

It warms up with drills that activate the muscles needed for a tight back.
Then the athletes (3) put the bar on their back, incorporate the warm up sequence to get a tight back, and squat - add 5kg - repeat.

By the end, the athletes have sore back muscles from a good back workout + legs - and have a much sexier squat than before.

I love my gym because it's small, I know the owner and love her, sometimes if I show up at the right time I even get the place all to myself for a while which is lovely!

I designed the 1/2 hour squat routine (for 3 people) and ran it through twice at the gym today, tweaking the routine to make it more efficient. I'll work some more on it tomorrow, and learn the whole routine off by heart.

I'll take it to class next week (I'm at personal trainer school) and run the drill on 3 of my classmates - and see what critique they offer. After I graduate (in June) i hope to present this 'Keep your back tight' class as a personal trainer to paying clients. In addition I will will design a series of 1/2 hour sessions to cover every aspect of the squat. The whole course will be called 'Have a Sexy Squat'.

I need to buy some squat racks like they use in olympic training, so I'm mobile and can run the course at whatever gym wants to run it. Limited to 3 clients might create a huge demand, and if so, I just put the price up a bit. The gyms will charge me for the space, and I need maybe 50 bucks for the 1/2 hour, so say the client gives me 15 bucks + 1/3 each of whatever the gym wants. I could run 4 classes in succession and get like 180 quid in say 2 hours... allowing for set up time and dawdlers.

If it is popular, and I think it will be, it is good way of promoting myself as a PT, and of all the people who come to classes, some will hire me for personal coaching as well.

I'll donate my hat to St Vincent De Pauls when I make first mill'...

...and have great kamma for all the sexy squats.

I even have a song for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZueDC0HqP28