Strength / Weight Training

Heh, welcome to the on-the-spectrum side of me that freaks out about breaking "the rules".

This is my setup tucked away, when gyms were shut I wheeled the bench and weights into the sitting room three times a week, and put the chin-up bar in the doorway of the spare bedroom. The bench has been fine from a taking the weight perspective but the angles you can set the backrest too are not very useful- it’s been used most commonly set to flat, or at an angle created by sticking a big bit of kindling under the prop.

1 Attachment

Has anyone got a simple gym plan for xc riding and running?

plus some heavier lifts for force development/ beach muscle?

I'd stick to doing as much bike/running training as possible and throw in a couple of 5x5 squat sessions a week (see 5x5 stronglifts app and just follow the squats)
Squats will add core strength and balanced development on the quads/glutes/hams.
For power add some plyometrics.
For topless beach photos add a bench/tricep session - bearing in mind you're looking at 12 weeks of consistency to see the start of any physical change and you're swapping out a session that could be more beneficial for your sport - assuming you're working full time and have a life outside XC, your training time is precious and for endurance sports most of your time should be putting in the miles. I personally wouldn't bother with intense circuits which will detract from that. Be aware of trying to cram too much into your week, too.

https://muscleboard.co.uk/products/the-muscle-board

I'm toying with the oidea of giving whey protein a go.

Just came across a site selling forty different flavours!

Is unflavoured whey protein really that gross? Have been puzzled by the flavoured versions of creatine powder when plain tastes literally of nothing....wondered if protein is similar.

Unflavoured whey tastes a little like very watered down yogurt.

I mix it with some frozen fruit in a smoothie

Great, thanks. Sounds fine then. Really put off by artificial flavours sometimes.

Speaking of which, I bought some creatine on the cheap in a myprotein promotion recently. I prefer natural but they only had blue raspberry left and it was only £8 for a kilo. How bad could it be I wondered?

The flavour itself is just about tolerable but holy shit....they've added ALL of the sweeteners. It unbearably sweet.

Anybody want a 1kg bag of insanely sweet flavoured creatine? (Minus 16g). Otherwise its going in the bin.

How have you managed NEVER to have tried whey??? That boggles my mind. You... Someone big into exercise and sports.

I'll take it if it's easy to get to me / collect. Not sure how though.

You're still SE based, right? I'd happily ride it over...

Good question. Firstly, i've always been a bit wary of supplements over the years.

I've also never really been into putting on muscle mass and when I've tried in the past I didn't have problems doing it...things have slowed down a touch as I hit my 40s.

Finally, I've watched a whole bunch of mates do strength training and diet badly, whack a load of whey on top of an already poor diet and just end up fat. I struggle with eating well and taking a protein supplement always felt like adding another variable that I'd struggle to juggle.

You may find that protein helps, as it is much more filling than carbs (imo) so you may find your overall calorie consumption actually drops.

Putney

I'm in Putney every couple of weeks. Will message you next time I'm heading out your way.

Sweet! Cheers buddy

At what kind of weight have people here started using straps for deadlifts? I'm at 100kg worksets atm and I don't think I'll be able to continue on increasing the weight much more, but I was wondering if my grip strength is something I should try work on before relying on a crutch

I got to 180kg without straps.

I went up to 5x165kg using alternate grip and grip wasn't an issue. I use liquid chalk and a few dead hangs to improve grip

Are you doing the hook grip with your thumb under the bar yet? You should be able to get higher than 100kg using that. It is awkward to begin with but you'll get there. Start with doing it at lower weights to get used to it. Also when you can keep holding the bar at the end of your set to get yourself some extra grip time.

I’d do both.
Use straps when grip is the limiting factor AND train grip separately (holds for time, etc...)

I get forearm injuries fairly easily so use straps again now for any barbell exercise that involves a pull, so bent over row, Romanian deadlift. I find not worrying about my grip at 70kg upwards means my overall form is better.

forty different flavours!

I used to mix vanilla flavoured whey with milk, then add a dash of cold coffee that I would keep in the fridge for this purpose. Quite nice.

Anyhow, I figured that whey+milk was the reason I would get a funny stomach so don't touch it now. And hemp protein was too much hassle so gave up on that too.

Sometimes stomach issues are from overpowering the digestive enzymes which means that some will bypass the digestive process.

Bypass it a full speed even.

Both is sensible. Straps for now to keep the deadlift progressing . Definitely train grip too. Hangs, farmers carries, barbell holds with fat grips worked for me. Doing grip work made a big difference to my deadlift max.

Mixed grip is also an option, though it could result in imbalances.

Since training grip I've got past 200kg for heavy singles with no straps