Strength / Weight Training

The eternal #gymproblem. A constant queue for racks while there are 20 unused treadmills, 25 empty crosstrainers etc.

Racks don't sell memberships to the january sign up crowd though, that's the sad truth.

Dumbbells for the win!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxgA5qEi2mc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ3QwaXNJfw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24PeqytTtq4

http://munchies.vice.com/videos/fuel-the-diet-of-champion-weightlifter-morghan-king

This is pretty impressive / inspiring. Never really got the hang of cleans, but always thought they looked really good done well

In my not very familiar with the weights corner of my gym I assumed there would be bars and plates like in body pump classes but the max they hold is prob 100kgs which whilst plenty for me not even for actual lifters, eh?

Oh well. Will perserverve!

FWIW the bloke who put together stronglifts is a total bellend. Its all ripped off older ideas and layed out in a way that doesn't work that well. It had more problems in the beginning, when said bellend used to have demo videos but performed the lifts wrong in his videos. Giving thousands of upstarts the same flaws on the squat.
He was a total egomaniacal nazi on his forum and eventually switched to an all paying/self glorifying setup.

You can have a useful strength routine without barbells, just that bars let you do barbell squats, and barbell deadlifts, which are exercises that cannot be matched in the way they use your body.

If you want to do something like stronglifts, but 'right' - I urge you to purchase the books Starting Strength & Practical Programming by Mark Rippetoe. Its a very simple concept but Rip explains it very well.

If you want to explore training with things that aren't barbells, I recommend looking at the work of Dan John & Pavel Tsatsouline.

Also, unless you actually have a attraction to lifting weights specifically, I would thoroughly recommend using your own body to challenge & develop what your own body can do. ie; Gymnastics/Acrobatics, Martial Arts & Bodyweight Exercise.

He was a total egomaniacal nazi on his forum

Got yourself into an argument on a forum somewhere? Who'd have thought DFP..

Haha.

The guy Mehdi is a complete melt, though he's making a fortune from stronglifts. It's a recycled idea, but like everything, it's marketing. I wouldn't pay for his forum, but following a 5 x 5 programme and trying to add weight a good plan.

The thing for me is not following a strict 5 x 5 but using the ideas from it - lifting heavy, focus on compound lifts and incorporating those into your own workouts.

^this

Cool, interesting to see diet too :)

Can't go wrong with protein + natural carb (sweet potato, lentil, beans) + veg really.

Have been doing some thinking and I think this is the way to go...weights workout 3 times a week centred around compound lifting and then some isolation stuff using a few machines but mostly free weights and body weight (although I can't do a proper press-up for shit...for now!)

Just make sure whatever you are doing is enjoyable and you keep a progression going, this is why barbells are good. They are totally scalable and progression is simple and clear.

Other activities like acrobatic stuff, you progress in a different way by learning movements, perfecting them, making them harder, less hands etc...

Check out beast skills for stuff to try;
http://www.beastskills.com/

Getting proficient at handstands for example is as equally impressive as being able to bust out 20 chin ups, and you don't need the man bulk to achieve it either.

I wouldn't bother with that isolation stuff at all unless you enjoy it. Knuckle down on them push ups, a good approach to learning is doing them on a raised object such as a bench (so body is at 45º or so to ground) and then making sure to keep perfect technique and ROM. Do not do "girl" pushups from the knees or ugly partial pushups from the ground. Wont achieve much and risks injury. You may also want to stick to dumb bells for bench pressing for a while, as if you are not strong enough for push ups, then benching the bar could be a risky jump.

Fun & technique are key :)

Isolation work should fit main goals. I powerlift however so it's brutally simple...should help squat bench deadlift, rest doesn't matter.

@pootsmanuva I'm late to the party, I know, but these articles were what moved me over to the weightlifting side of the gym. http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/02/28/strength-training-101/ especially the article on squats.

All of those articles in the series are great she writes well and has good advice throughout. I didn't really get on with the rest of that site so much so after getting used to some of the comp0und excersizes I moved over to starting strength (which is like 5x5 but, you know, different).

I am a dude fwiw. An old dude.

Back from holiday, my mum goes: Yes, I've seen your legs are bigger.

(hrm hahaha).

Wine and crisps...not so good. Here comes a week of being Very Good.

You and me both.

Recently single is causing me to eat way to much shit.

And not enough vitamins and protein.

Surely it's SIX PACK TIME now... ;)

No pesky partner to lure you into movies with snacks...you and the weights, mano e mano :p

And malnourishment from endless tinder/grindr encounters.

3000m ergo at lunch (1:50 split bitches!) , pile of stomach after work and an hour ride in and and hour ride back. All to strip off the puppy fat.

Ride home I thought I'd puke.

The therapeutic alcohol in the evenings isn't helping tho.

Are there any good workouts for lower back but the sides (love handle territory)

Alcohol no bah...comfort sweet potato eating is where it's at :p

Hulahoops (seriously), planks, side planks, sit-ups and kettle bells.

Also, less beer, sugar and bread etc.

Crunches rather than sit-ups if at all. Leg raises.

Hulahoops.... Phhhhtt... I'd be eaten alive if I did any at my gym. And it's only a Nufield corporate gym.

Yeah, its the kind of thing you want to do at home...

@ChainBreaker and @well_is_it thanks guys, those are all been done as well as russian twists and the one where you go to touch your ankle whilst holding a weight. I was wondering if there were any other weighted activities - dead lifts/pull up crunches or anything like that?

@well_is_it I've given up beer this year and try to eat as little bread as possible - sugar well I try...