Strength / Weight Training

I also find manoeuvring the weights into position before

Move the 'stand' closer to your start point.

For a press,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuvT8MQu-lQ

That's not the problem, its taking the weights from my legs into the press position and rotating the weight as I go - my wrists just don't like it.

Also, is there a safer way of doing this?

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Also, is there a slightly safer way of doing this?

Yup

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4B46F117-E7E6-4EF5-B11C-452E24D058EA.heic 

What is THAT?! youtube?

What do you ladies and gents know about maintaining muscle mass?

I've been working hard to put on a few KG of muscle over the last couple of years. I'm getting to a point where I don't want to continue gaining muscle but I don't want to lose what I've built. Beefcake is not my goal.

As lockdown eases I'm going to be concentrating more on functional strength for the sports I am training for (climbing and ski touring) but I envisage that I will want to keep some strength training going too.

I literally have no idea where to start for a maintenance plan. Any tips?

What do you ladies and gents know about maintaining muscle mass?

nothing.... (me i mean)

Beefcake(ier) is not my goal.

FTFY

4x(6x26), 4x(6x28), 4x(6x30), 4x(6x32)

Can somebody explain this notation to me?

4x(6x26), 4x(6x28), 4x(6x30), 4x(6x32)

26 is the weight
6 is the rep
4 is the number of sets
4 different exercises

Just a guess

I literally have no idea where to start for a maintenance plan. Any tips?

Easy, basically what you were doing at 75% effort, keep doing it.

Aaah, cheers. It's the four different exercises I didn't get.

Awesome. Thanks mate. Will work along those lines.

Aaah, cheers. It's the four different exercises I didn't get.

Im only guessing

Im only guessing

I'm kind of hoping you're wrong tbh. Its leg day today and I only did weighted squats and lunges. I'm wobbling like a blancmange.

Awesome. Thanks mate. Will work along those lines.

Same lines for endurance/fitness. You need to do something, else youll lose it. If you wanted to grow, youd be putting in the effort - Maixing out/ trying new things/ pushing yourself.
But to maintain, is easy.

I did that today, rest-pause set of 6 weighted squats, 10 second pause, six squats etc.

4x(6x26), 4x(6x28), 4x(6x30), 4x(6x32) IIRC, used the straps on the last one and it was great to shift the load from my forearms to my quads.

Maybe im wrong.... 6 weighted squats pause 6 more pause...
The 4x is a different exercise? or another round?

For comparison, this is how I would notate today:

6 x (10 x 40kg) squats, 6 x (10 x 40kg) Lunges (each leg)

Meaning six sets of 10 reps @ 40kg for each exercise. So your interpretation seems correct I think.

Sorry, didn't mean to be unclear.

Iain is correct - so 26kg dumbbells, four sets of six squats with a 10 second pause between sets, then a minute or so and back to another 4 sets of six with the 28kg dumbbells etc.

How do you feel after that!?

It's not easy, certainly. As I said earlier, my forearms start to burn on the later, heavier sets so it's nice to use the wrist straps to bring the focus back onto my quads.

https://youtu.be/EVmEgHMhZKY

Bit heavy today, snacks have crept back in to my diet. I’ll nuke the snacks and focus on the four structured (protein heavy) meals per day.

Current plan is to hit 78kg average weight by the end of March, then cut during April down to 74, then push again. Trainer reckons to target 80kg of lean mass for the end of the year, which given that I was ~85kg in September last year seems amazing to me (very different body composition).

@Dammit, I was chatting to a friend yesterday- He swears by Fat Gripz for grip and forearm strength.

He used them for high rep, low-ish weight finisher sets to break through a couple of deadlift plateaus

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fat-Gripz%C2%AE-Award-Winning-Shortcut-Head-Turning/dp/B07QKML1SL/

Weight/trouser fit is stable, but recovery not fantastic (not counting calories or protein atm in fairness) as I felt my hamstrings the next day after the weekly 9 mile cycle run going up a steep Belfast hill.

Strength is no doubt also bad atm...well, it is what it is, muscle memory means it should return sooner than starting from scratch.

The weather is finally not super rainy anymore, so I can move the kettlebell sessions outside again. (yes, we are lucky enough to have this thing called a garden with a lawn where you can drop a bell w/o trashing bell or tiles) and bells on a lawn under a starry sky is so much more fun.

Now to motivate "the troops" at home again to do their sessions :)