Strength / Weight Training

I tipped out a bag of Vanilla I'd bought in early 2019 the other day.
Finish a bag of choc I'd bought at the same time though.

Simply because the vanilla smelled funny and the choc didn't.

Use by was probably 6 months ago (or more).

The biggest change for me going from making slow to comparatively quick progress (in terms of KGs lifted and visible physical change ) was eating more, a lot more. Protein and other macronutrients. I put ​on some body fat , but not much.

Ive got slack with rest and diet, and progress has stalled again. Seemed like far too much to eat when I started, and I was dubious, but made all the difference.

Weirdly, I've been on a relatively low protein diet for a few weeks (unintentional, just eating almost no meat without replacing it) and i've not noticed a huge change in my gainz.

I'm probably not beefcaking hard enough though.

I'm 20% bf as it is so would rather slower bulk than put on more fat.

Fair enough. I'm lucky to have a fast metabolism, takes a fair bit for me to put weight on, and judging by others , people respond very differently. Without volume of both food and protein my bulk is non-existent rather than slow. Maybe my training plan is just rubbish.....

I would say that the eating more/less arguments only really make sense if you know your calorific maintenance is, what you were eating before, and what you’re eating now. Someone eating 3000kcal of mostly carbs a day probably doesn’t need to eat “more” they just need to swap their carbs for more protein.

Someone eating a well balanced 1800-2000kcal could probably get away with just upping their calorie intake if they wanted to make gains.

Until calories and macros are counted, more or less is fairly meaningless. Especially as when people actually add up what they eat, the result is often drastically different to what they believed. “I eat loads” or “I barely eat” seldom match the numbers. Loads of people I know claim to eat loads, but regularly have a tiny breakfast, almost no lunch, some small snacks through the day and then a big dinner - which adds up to say 2000kcal, while others claim to not eat much but constantly graze on crap, or just eat very calorie dense food in general which has their daily calorie total way higher than they realised.

Bit of a rant, but really if you eat a varied diet, hit your macros and stay within your target calorie ranges for your goal (building muscle, getting lean etc) it’s very rare that it doesn’t work.

Some useful info here re. Macros etc

https://legionathletics.com/what-is-tdee/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%20%5B5.21.2021%5D%20%28VexaRr%29&bxid=NpSfkF&_ke=eyJrbF9jb21wYW55X2lkIjogIk5TOEI5RSIsICJrbF9lbWFpbCI6ICJyaWNoYXJkY29pZEBidGludGVybmV0LmNvbSJ9

Managed 4 sets of 5 of 100 bench ...

In your face @Stonehedge

iifym.com (If it fits your macros)
Tracking everything is where people fail.
I had a co worker who didn’t consider candies “really eating” so she didn’t count them.

I managed 1 rep of 100 yesterday lunchtime and I've just woken up feeling like somebody has hit me in the tits with a sledgehammer

like somebody has hit me in the tits with a sledgehammer

Good going - great feeling that. Tomorrow will be joyful.

I was annoyed as I was chasing 6 reps but just could not do it...

It does feel good. 100 is 104% of my body weight so a nice marker for me.

That said, I'm probably not going to go any higher, have to be careful not to put too much weight on. Going climbing for a couple of weeks next week and will switch back to concentrating on fat loss when I get back.

3 plate deadlift for 5 reps. This is my first somewhat heavy lift since my knee/hip injuries 2 years ago. Feels good.

I pinged my back doing Romanian deadlifts on Monday, should I go back to the gym today for an upper body session?

No if it hurts. See a physio

I’d say ‘yeah, but don’t be an idiot’. Adjust towards isolation-type movement as much as you can. Like, I’d skip any barbell work or compound movements that might exacerbate it but I also wouldn’t scrap training body parts that are fine. If I hurt my right shoulder, I’ll still do dumbbell pressing with the left.

In the gym, ok so far.

What happens to strong lifts if you miss a ton of workouts for holidays, or miss some reps?
I assume it stays on next workout until after the holiday? And if you miss reps I assume it stays that weight next time?

It reduces the weight for the next session if you have a large gap in time or of you miss lifts on a session ( I THINK you need to miss the lifts on three occasions before the weight drops by 10%).
If this happens do not worry! It gives you a couple of sessions to work back to the weight.
I will say again - concentrate on form - especially when getting up to your working weight.

Does anyone have something carb rich just before a session?

Pre workout

Either non stim or stim. Some contain various forms of carbs or sugars.

Personally heavy carbs make me lethargic. Something for before bed.

Guy in the gym with an impressive upper body and little stick legs giving unsolicited, forceful training advice to another chap tonight.

Perhaps avoid the advice😀

Happens occasionally. He's a dick

This chap?

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