Strength / Weight Training

I mean, there's an obvious answer. But it does involve androgens / TRT.

I was going to say this...

Beyond newbie gains, its very hard to pack on muscle esp when youre saying in dbl digits. Also almost impossible to be cut and muscular at the same time - its one or the other.

Unless you have outside assistance with something like TRT or vitamin S.

Talking of volume, I think 5*5 at high % of orm is crazy high for squat. I've tried it and it took too long/ I got too ragged in the latter sets. Much prefer 3*5.

Absolute best shape of my life but couldn't stay there for very long, it was just utterly miserable

Also this... maintaining low body fat percentages will make almost everyone misrable. You need to be in a cal deficit and you body will cravy everything and make life hard.

+1, always been absolutely killed by 3x5. And probably had the best gains from drop sets - dropping 5%~ off the second then 3rd set. Means each working set is properly intense.

This is something I didn't really catch onto before - I was stuck doing about 1.5x my bodyweight on squats, absolutely doing myself in and aggravating a dodgy knee in the process and not making much progress.

Currently trying to build it back up after a bit of a hiatus & will look into drop sets / going down to 3*5 sets as soon as progress starts to slow down

I mean, there's an obvious answer. But it does involve androgens / TRT.

So pop along to the GP and tell them a tale of being at home to Mr Floppy?

So pop along to the GP and tell them a tale of being at home to Mr Floppy?

go to a private TRT clinic. Get bloodwork done. Find out your levels. see if you need it. You may want it later on in life or you might ask for it now.

https://balancemyhormones.co.uk/ I'm in the process of being tested by these guys.

I'm feeling more and more like a walking collection of injuries - forearm which is (get wanking, inadequates) golf and tennis elbow in one, and now lower bicep (both right arm). Plus my left elbow is creaking.

Do I have to totally back off all pull type exercises until these very gradually get better? Or can I just reduce the weight dramatically (use the sled thing for pull-ups for e.g.) to still get some volume in, but well below what triggers the "fuck that hurts"?

I tried to manage my knee by carrying
on in a modified way recently. It didn't work. In the end I had to stop doing any running or weights and do a load of rehab to fix.

You sure it's not overtraining??? 17 sets per exercise??

Well, that's what I'm asking - totally de-load, as DST2 had to do, or scale the weight right back.

Personally I'd stop all training and do rehab work.

Scaling back has never worked for me with injuries, only complete rest and then load up veeeery gradually as part of recovery. YMMV of course.

Tried my first 5x5 stronglifts today.

Might try your method as it felt a bit much and I wasn't really pushing much.

First ever? Was it squats or deadlifts? How did you calculate your starting weight?
If I were to guess yes, yes and you're on here because you ride a bike I'd hazard a guess you started too heavy. As you ride you'll have relatively stronger legs than the rest of your body, and more so than the average desk sitter.
5 x is a good balance for stimulating hypertrophy and strength gains. I'd suggest go lighter, not less, at least until the linear progression stalls.

Did you start with the empty bar?

Deadlift - warm up with a few low weight reps and then work up in singles with increasing weight, then 1x5 working set.
Same with squats but with 1x5@85% 1rm. Then 80%, then 75%.
I tended to find that after a while that you get pretty good at knowing what your working set should be around. It’s a simple enough format and is good for gainzzzzzzzz.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

I warmed up and did a set with the empty bar on each exercise.
I'm very out of shape all over so small weights.

Bench press. I couldn't push my anywhere near my max as I was worried about failing (no spotter or safety rack). Did 4x5 with 30kg weights plus the 7ft Olympic bar. Last set was hard.

Squats. Felt weird bending as low as advised in Stronglifts. Used the above weight. Tried to concentrate on good form.

Barbell row. I've never done these before and felt like it would be super easy to do your back in. Only did 10kg weights plus the weight of the bar as I just wanted to focus on good form. Not sure I was nailing this one properly.

Barbell row. I've never done these before and felt like it would be super easy to do your back in. Only did 10kg weights plus the weight of the bar as I just wanted to focus on good form. Not sure I was nailing this one properly.

Well worth watching Rippetoe's how to on this one.

I warm up on a 10kg barbell for these, to really dial in the muscle memory, otherwise my back complains about it.

I’m totally confused. You mentioned you are doing Stronglifts and this is day one. Have I got that wrong?
Day one is basically the empty bar. Don’t rush it, things get heavy soon enough.

@TGR I have no idea what I'm doing
I didn't read far down enough on stronglofts to a see the recommended weights.

@TW thanks, I was doing those wrong. Need to watch some more vids.

Always good to use your phone to film your set, then you can look back and study your form and you won't be stressing your neck trying to watch a mirror.

Try barbell rows lying face down on a high bench. It takes a lot of stress off your lower back.

The app is very useful. Weight starts low and builds. Starting with a high weight is pointless as you don’t get the progression. Low weight is also good for getting your form right. Any questions, just ask.