Strength / Weight Training

I've not but €35 is either a bargain for 8 weeks of commited buy-in or crazy for a template when theres so much out there for free.

Sidenote: if you wanted free alternatives: Hatch Squat program is a favourite 8-12 week program with similar frequency written by similarly strong olympic weightlifters.
'Stronger by Science' have some great squat templates as part of their 28 program bundle.

If you know you'll go harder on something you've invested in then go for that though. Sika has been around for years and I'd be surprised if the program was trash.

Keep at it - i'm just starting to get back to half decent form after losing 5kg in July on the Mexican seafood diet, but that's another (ghastly) story...

It'll come back - even if you have to knock the weight back a bit now, once you start adding it on again the strength will come back much quicker than you gained it first time round. Even if there's no consistency, doing anything as & when you can will be beneficial in the long run.

I try my hardest to ignore my inconsistency and the ups and down of my physical performance and just tell myself, something is better than nothing.

Something is better than nothing.

Also just 3 weeks ago I hit the norovirus.

Thanks for the recommendations. Going to test my 1RM on Monday and give the Stronger by Science 4 week programme a go from the following week.

Good luck with the max out!

Have been slowly adding weight back on after recent elbow/ribs misfortune - managed 3 x 6 @ 86kg, then 1 x 3 at 90kg on the bench so there may be hope for a 100kg single before the year is out after all!

Squats are 3x3 @ 132kg on "heavy" days so a 140kg single should also be do-able soon, wary of aggravating my dodgy knee so i'll go forth slowly in 2kg increments but keep the heaviest set as 1x3, then do a couple of slightly lighter ones.

Also started doing some deadlifts this morning for the first time in ages - built up to a single at 140kg, was a struggle though so will be slow progress there. Will see how my ribs / elbow feels tomorrow before planning any more...

Nice! How are you feeling today?

I pulled some deadlifts today for the first time in years. Went sumo in an attempt to 1) help with hip strength/flexibility and 2) avoid comparisons with prior numbers. Took it easy and stopped at 95kgx8 but they felt great and got a bit of that CNS buzz that I've been missing.

Like you, will be interested to see how I feel tomorrow, a few sensible sets of Bulgarian split squats on Saturday morning gave me fatigue/brain fog for the rest of the weekend.

Not too bad thanks - did feel a bit drained afterwards but ok! Most importantly my lower back & legs feel fine, bit of elbow/ribs/knee niggle but that's par for the course - I did push it a bit having not pulled a deadlift in a year.

Also turns out 140 is a PB - I thought I hit that last year but it was 130, bonus! There's progress to be made, but i'll go back to 3x5 @ 75-85% and see how that feels then go from there.

Hope you've avoided the barbell hangover - i've overdone it a few times & takes me days to recover!

First day of RDLs, going to need a 7ft bar and more plates! Any good Black Friday deals?

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These guys are generally dirt cheap, and currently have an extra 22% off with a code - https://liftsandgravy.com/

There’s no heating in my gym. I need some glove recommendations. I normally use gardening gloves, but they are well insulated.

I use some motorbike handlebar heaters to take the edge off the bar

Just buy a pair or two of iron 20/25kg plates. That’ll buy you more room on the bar.

I have a wolverson bar.

https://wolverson-fitness.co.uk/products/wolverson-bar-20kg

I am no expert on bars and do not like heavy. The knurling is neither to harsh or soft. I never have to think about the bar.

I have the foundation bar but it's sold out in 20kg.

Depends on if you like your bar or not and how many plates you already own I suppose.

Thanks @Ewan111, was a great deal on plates! Yep @Nef, got a few pairs, that should keep me going for a bit.
If/when I get strong enough to deserve a longer bar I'll treat myself then.

Thanks for this. I got the small plyo box for less than I could buy the materials for.

So, after "tweaking" my elbow at the start of October, it's not getting any better - in fact it's probably worse & i've just gotten used to it...

I've still been going to the gym but have taken out the "pull" exercises at that seemed to aaggravate it most, but my common sense is finally making an appearance so i'm most likely knocking it on the head for a while.

Google-fu suggests it's lateral epicondylitis, or tennis elbow - anyone have experience with this? Have a doctor appointment next week, but i'm guessing lifting weights is going to be off the cards for a bit - certianly don't want to make it worse.

Fffffuuuu

I've had what has been diagnosed as tennis elbow for fuck knows how long, to the point where straightening the arm is impossible a lot of the time. Waiting to see a specialist on NHS list

In the meantime I do curls with a small dumbbell rested on a table, 3 sets of 8, daily. Does often help ease things a little

This was very useful for a mate & I who have both had elbow issues - https://drjuliansaunders.com/ask-dr-j-issue-223-dodgy-elbows-revisited/

Also found an Armaid helped. I’ve got a good elbow brace that was also really useful .

I’ve got some scans of a couple of pages from Dave Macleod’s book on climbing injuries that was also useful. Pm me if you’d like them.

Cheers - will have a look at that, sounds like there's certain things to work on & other things (like max effort deadlifts) that should probably be avoided.

In late 2019 I wrote out a plan to squat 220kg. Obviously some stuff got in the way around that time but today I hit the final milestone lift of 200x3. 5 plates is so close I can taste it.