Strength / Weight Training

I found our last training note from 2 years ago...it is gonna be a while. But that gives me all I need to build a training programme to get back to that.

Now where did I leave that bottle of liquid chalk... ;)

Stronglifts - for a while?

Hmm mostly 5x5 sets, see that is not going to work I think.

I found we cannot take that anymore, recovery sucked when we had too many lower reps sets. I had to up the assistance works reps as heavy deadlift/leg press (sorry our squat suck so that's what it is) with chins/dips was enough of a killer.

But that doesn't mean I cannot use any of it...I will investigate and use some of it :)

It’s starts off easy (ish) - empty bar, that’s why I suggested it. Good to get your form right too.
Saying all that, I had hoped to start it again this week but todays excuse - flu! And I’m not pleased.
Happy New Year!!

I did this last year, I contacted a local PT (for £30) who did me an upper body programme based on what equipment I had at home.. I can send it through as most can be done with dumbells..

Now where did I leave that bottle of liquid chalk... ;)

Hopefully you threw it away. I can't stand people who mess up the entire gym just for just a slight improvement to their own comfort.

?

Do people in your gym leave it all over the floor? Smear it on the walls? We only use a little for deadlift grip.

This is far less messy than powder chalk and only so much weight I can hold on the deadlift (which is a normal not very grippy bat cos standard gym) without it.

But perhaps I'm missing something.

Flu, ugh...not fun!

Hope you get well soon. So many people at work came down with something ovet Christmas.

No fun at all!
Covid is about too. I like to plan things and get rather annoyed when plans fail - like now! Great start to the year - not!!

Yeah it's annoying.

But I guess a week of flu won't derail things too much?

True, only a week but that plays on my mind. Last time I was about to restart I got injured at footie. There’s always a reason not to start!

mess up the entire gym

Huh? How?

Maybe I've been lucky that occasionally I find it on an Olympic bar. Doesn't bother me.

But perhaps I'm missing something.

This

I've just signed up to a gym and am going to start trying to do the Stronglifts programme later today.

I've always struggled a bit with self-esteem/body confidence as I'm lanky and have the physique of an average 8 year old. So whilst strength and fitness are the main goals after a few sedentary years of early parenthood, obvs wouldn't mind having some kind of muscle development and definition north of my belly button.

Was going to post my numbers/vital statistics, but on second thought it doesn't make much difference telling the internet what my waist/chest/leg sizes are, and have it saved on my phone.

Will try to keep things updated on here, at least for myself/accountability's sake.

I don't know what the ish with liquid chalk is but my gym has a sign that says NO LIQUID CHALK so there must be something up with it.

Good luck. And remember to keep your form right. It gets difficult and failure is part of it. Hard work will be rewarded.

Good stuff - just stick to it even if it initially feels too light & try to make sure you get adequate rest etc. once it begins to get heavier (doesn't take too long!)

I did it for a while a few years ago when I could get to the gym Mon/Wed/Fri and made a pretty good improvement on my numbers from where I was initially, currently trying to get back into lifting but it's slow progress as I can only get to the gym Tuesday & Thursday now...

Recently I've been just sticking to bench / squat / dl but i'm finding it hard to make much headway - due to time constraints i've been doing 3x10 for bench & squat with couple of sets of 5 for deadlifts, main problem is doing the same exercises twice in a row with only a day in between... might switch to 5x5 again and try to use the lower number of sets to help increase the weight.

First lifting today in ~9 months.

I'd forgotten what it feels like to lift lumps of metal.

To avoid injury / overdoing it for the first couple of weeks, I'm keeping it light & focused on the basic lifts each session - squats, bench, shoulder press, barbel rows / dead lifts (alternating sessions), 3 x 8.

Aiming for 3 sessions a week, but expect that will be more like 2.

Also extremely chuffed that the gym has a 1 year membership offer of £220.

The downside is that they only have 6 olympic lift platforms.

Also extremely chuffed that the gym has a 1 year membership offer of £220.

£220 ?? Wow!

The downside is that they only have 6 olympic lift platforms.

Six??? Wow... I got only 2 😭

How do the platforms affect lifting?

Thanks for the words of encouragement folks - had my first session yesterday evening.

Started small as per the suggestions/default stronglifts app weights (e.g. 20kg bar only for squats), only adding a bit of weight for the last set of the exercises where it felt i wasn't being pushed at all and form felt alright (bench and bb row, squats was plenty as i still had achey thighs from a rare weekend of walking and cycling a fair bit).

Humblebrag time - also paid £216 for a year's 24/7 membership, at Puregym (in Liverpool) - seems to be more than amply equipped for a novice like myself.

Good stuff. Keep it up.

First day back in the gym after a terrible cold. I think the rest did me good. I couldn’t lift what I was lifting before. Probably about 20-30% less weight.

That’s good news and some encouragement to me as I’m suffering with the flu at the moment.

Assuming they are in good condition , provide a stable base . Should provide some dampening when you drop the bar on OLY lifts. Don't really notice a difference for anything but deadlifts personally.

They tend to get fucked up in commercial gyms from lack of maintenance/ abuse. End up with dips in them , meaning the bar rolls about and is tricky to get straight when on the floor for pulls .