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If you are feeling your bench press primarily in the shoulders to the point of pain, your form is incorrect. One of the biggest causes of serous shoulder injury during bench is is over flareing the elbows during the movement, either on purpose (common in bodybuilders) or due to an incorrect width of grip on the bar for your individual anatomy.

I dont have pain in my shoulders just my arms in general feeling achey all the time - I think it's just that my body is not used to it.

I think I was doing it fine - it was an induction so I had a trainer there with me showing me how it's done. He did tell me that arching my back would protect my shoulders and prevent injury when doing heavier weights but I didn't know if I was doing the arching properly.
 
Arching has nothing to do with protecting the shoulders or preventing any kind of injury, The reason competitive lifters arch is firstly to shorten the range of motion which allows for a heavier max competition lift, secondly the arch allows for better transfer of leg drive into the lift which also greatly increases the weight you can bench. When arching feet must be fully on the ground (no heel lift) and the Glutes must remain in contact with the bench (no arse lift). Developing a good arch takes time and extra training to strengthen the lower back to prevent severe back injury. Torso length also has an effect on how well an arch may be developed if any at all in a safe way.

one item of lifting equipment was originally developed to protect the shoulders, however a bench shirt is not recommended for casual lifters. Most casual lifters would not have the strength to pull the bar down to touch the chest in a correctly fitted shirt.
 
Arching has nothing to do with protecting the shoulders or preventing any kind of injury, The reason competitive lifters arch is firstly to shorten the range of motion which allows for a heavier max competition lift, secondly the arch allows for better transfer of leg drive into the lift which also greatly increases the weight you can bench. When arching feet must be fully on the ground (no heel lift) and the Glutes must remain in contact with the bench (no arse lift). Developing a good arch takes time and extra training to strengthen the lower back to prevent severe back injury. Torso length also has an effect on how well an arch may be developed if any at all in a safe way.

one item of lifting equipment was originally developed to protect the shoulders, however a bench shirt is not recommended for casual lifters. Most casual lifters would not have the strength to pull the bar down to touch the chest in a correctly fitted shirt.

I did not intend to go to the gym to lift weights; I signed up looking for new ways to lose weight and I was told that lifting was a good way due to the amount of energy required to repair the muscles.

It has taken me 4 days for my arms to feel fully recovered and I plan to go to the gym and lift weights more often than every 4 days - it's only because it was my birthday that I managed to came home this weekend and due to that I was able to rest. It feels like lifting is too tough for me however I will soldier on for a little more and see how it pans out - i'll just take it a little easier than the instructor at my induction first set (for arms/shoulders anyway).
 
Great attitude to keep going, and you are right to take it easy to begin with, what your induction instructor failed to do is to keep it light and not teaching to your level of experience or goals. 4 day is excessive for DOMS and recovery, 2 days is normal for a new workout and once adjusted to the exercise (2 -3 sessions) then you should be feeling minimal DOMS post training. Pain does not equal gain.

The biggest benefit for lifting in terms of weight loss is not the calorie burn which is not huge but the effect it has on body composition. Lifting triggers the body to maintain (and sometimes build) your lean muscle making it possible to loose primarily fat which keeps your metabolism up while in calorie deficit.
 
Come home for my birthday; I think I've got into a bad habit of eating too much when I'm home.

I try to put on a front for my family to say that I am eating healthier; doing more exercise (which I am when I'm away from home). However when I'm home and nobody is looking I will grab that extra biscuit or unhealthy snack and secretly eat it - I think this is because of the temptation of unhealthy snacks being so available and ready around the house where as at my flat in London I don't have that temptation at all.

I also do no exercise due to the area being one of which doesn't feel as supportive and welcoming to exercise/running (compared to London); also to mention I spend my time at home with my family.

It sounds bad but I think visiting my parents is not good for my health - I prefer not to come home (it makes me lazy all round) but my parents insist I do and need my attention when I am away for long periods of time. Also as mentioned above it was my birthday so I couldn't say no.
 
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Great attitude to keep going, and you are right to take it easy to begin with, what your induction instructor failed to do is to keep it light and not teaching to your level of experience or goals. 4 day is excessive for DOMS and recovery, 2 days is normal for a new workout and once adjusted to the exercise (2 -3 sessions) then you should be feeling minimal DOMS post training. Pain does not equal gain.

The biggest benefit for lifting in terms of weight loss is not the calorie burn which is not huge but the effect it has on body composition. Lifting triggers the body to maintain (and sometimes build) your lean muscle making it possible to loose primarily fat which keeps your metabolism up while in calorie deficit.

Thanks for the info; it's a good insight.

I also see in your signature your a coach/trainer. I'm glad and appreciate you taking the time to give some advice/guidance; lack of / inaccuarate information is one of my biggest problems starting up with my weight loss journey. Starting with jogging it has taken me a fair bit of time to get to this stage where i'm comfortable with what i'm doing - now stepping up into the gym doing weights is like being at step 1 again.
 
Ok back into the gym today. My first time solo after the induction.

I started with 20 minutes of light jogging / intense walking.

3 sets of 15 on the leg press machine at 30kg.

3 sets of 15 on a step up block (raising both legs up)

4 sets of 10 lunges (approx - it was length of a corridor but guessing each length was ~10)

3 sets of 15 lat pull downs (can't remember the weight - probably 20 or 25kg)

1 and half sets of 10 assissted pull ups. I couldnt finish the second set only got to 5/6.

3 sets of 15 on the chest press at 15kg.

20 minutes on the bike machine.

Thoughts on this routine @Trusylver ? I'll let you know how I feel over the next couple of days.

Weighed today pregym 121.5kg and post gym 120.7kg. Either way it is an increase on my last weighing - it was expected with all the junk I ate over the weekend for my birthday.

I'll leave the offial weighing this week and continue my routine of weighing myself Sunday morning after I shower.
 
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Hey there :)
Your message above really hit home for me. My daughter is away at University and when she comes home, she often eats more/worse and doesn't get much exercise when she is here.

After reading your post, I think I'm going to make a point of trying to not have her temptations around while she's here (she's vegan and i'm not) and maybe plan walks or hiking trips for our 'chatting/catching up' time.

As for weighing, I have a hard time not jumping on the scale to get a quick peek, but it does way more harm than good for me. Our weight fluctuates so much from day to day! Once a week sounds perfect :)
 
I started with 20 minutes of light jogging / intense walking.

3 sets of 15 on the leg press machine at 30kg.

3 sets of 15 on a step up block (raising both legs up)

4 sets of 10 lunges (approx - it was length of a corridor but guessing each length was ~10)

3 sets of 15 lat pull downs (can't remember the weight - probably 20 or 25kg)

1 and half sets of 10 assissted pull ups. I couldnt finish the second set only got to 5/6.

3 sets of 15 on the chest press at 15kg.

20 minutes on the bike machine.

Firstly, your warmup, while it is not bad it is a little long, 10 minutes is a good length for a cardio warmup, the extra 10 minute could be added to your cardio at the end. The reason is you do not want to be glycogen depleted in your muscle before you lift however when you deplete your glycogen stores while lifting you will force your body to access more fat reserves for energy during your cardio at the end.

For lifting the first set of each exercise you do should be a light warmup set to warm the specific muscle you are about to exercise, this set is in addition to your working sets. cardio warmup get you part of the way towards injury prevention but will not help prevent injury in specific muscles.

Leg Press

This exercise targets the Quadriceps (front of legs) but the target muscle can be changed by altering foot position on the plate, a high foot position will move some focus away from your quadriceps and onto your glutes (bum) and to a lesser extent hamstrings(back of legs). Unless you want to build size rather than strong tight muscles your reps are to high. As a beginner 10- 12 reps are a better option with a weight that you can only just finish the last rep on each set however lower reps (5-6) with an extra set would be even better as you gain experience and confidence.

Second Exercise

Sounds like you are doing calf raises, calves respond best to high reps so sets of 15 is good but if you feel you can do extra reps in each set then you need to hang onto some weights to make the exercise work for you.

Lunges

Lunges target the Quadriceps, the same muscle as your leg press, doubling up on the same target muscle is useful for bodybuilders wanting to hit a muscle in slightly different ways, it is not a great use of time for a beginners. Another option would be to do a hamstring specific exercise to balance the quadriceps training. If machines are your preferred option, single leg standing hamstring curls are a good option http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/LVStandingLegCurl.html however my favourite hamstring exercise is this http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Hamstrings/ASHamstringRaiseSelfFloor.html also known as a Nordic and comes with a warning that it does lead to extreme DOMS until you are used to doing them, they should be done as slow as possible for best results.

Lat Pull downs

Targets the Lats good basic exercise again, reduce the reps to 10-12 unless you are looking to build size, adjust weight up accordingly.

Assisted Pull Ups

These also target the lats which will already be tired from the pull downs, it would be better to swap this exercise with an exercise like seated rows, DB rows or inverted rows


which targets most of the other muscles in your back, engages the core, and works the back of the shoulders. The exercise can be made harder by elevating the feet or easier by bending the knees slightly. (The person in the video is my son, a dual Australian record holder)

Chest Press

A good machine alternative to bench press for chest, triceps and anterior delts (front of shoulders), as with the other exercises, drop the reps down and increase weight as needed.

Cardio at the end is good and could be a little longer if you shorten your cardio warmup, If time is limited at the gym HIIT would be a good option.
 
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Firstly, your warmup, while it is not bad it is a little long, 10 minutes is a good length for a cardio warmup, the extra 10 minute could be added to your cardio at the end.

For lifting the first set of each exercise you do should be a light warmup set to warm the specific muscle you are about to exercise, this set is in addition to your working sets. cardio warmup get you part of the way towards injury prevention but will not help prevent injury in specific muscles.

Cardio at the end is good and could be a little longer if you shorten your cardio warmup, If time is limited at the gym HIIT would be a good option.

I can definitely tone down the warm up - it was just to get me into the swing of things however 10 minutes will be plenty to warm me up and I'm all for doing a warm up set; what do you say a 'light' set would be? e.g. reduced weight? - if so what kind of weight is good? 25% less? 50% less?)

Leg Press
I think I still need to experiment with this then; I was able to do 20rep sets today at 30kg. I'll try upping it to 35 for one set and see how I do; if I can do 10 with ease i'll up it to 40kg. I'll see how that goes.

What do you mean 'gains experience and confidence' by doing 5-6 reps on a heavier set?

Second Exercise (Calf Raises)
I think being a big guy my balance is not the greatest at times when raising my second leg up (whilst balancing the other on the block). I could definitely do more reps but can feel wobbly sometimes getting up onto the step.

Lunges
I'm open to new things; the latter option looks tough - maybe i'll give that a miss for now but I can definietly try out the standing leg curl; i'm not sure if I've seen a machine like that in the gym - maybe one that looks similiar but it looks like you push it forwards with your legs rather than backwards.

It would also save me from looking silly lunging up and down the corridor :p

Assisted Pull Ups
I think the assisted pull ups are a lot more difficult than the lat pull downs - maybe because I do them afterwards or because my weight is crazy hard to pull up in comparison to the weight i'm doing on the lat pull down. Maybe I should play around more with the weight on the lat pull downs too. I don't like the look too much of the inverted rows - it looks like a more difficult version of a pull up / push up); I could probably do the seated rows - I'd need to find the machine that does this though (would a rowing machine suffice or is the difficutly this not good enough for working on the muscles in the back?

I could in turn do a set of both lat pull downs and assisted pull ups instead of focusing on one. Maybe I could alternate between them for different days.

I'll give the higher weights; less reps a go. I was thinking that starting easy and doing more would help ease my body into the gym.

Today's Work Out;
Anyway today I did a shorter session as I wasn't planning on going (however I have other commitments tomorrow).

10 minutes of light jogging / intense walking.

2 sets of 20 on the leg press machine at 30kg.

2 sets of 15 lat pull downs at 25kg

2 sets of 10 assissted pull ups. I managed to finish all 10 in both sets today.

2 sets of 15 on the chest press at 15kg.

20 minutes on the bike machine.
 
The reason for lower reps and higher weight is that this is more effective in preventing muscle loss along with building strength in a calorie deficit rather than high rep / low weight for building size . Although it is possible to gain muscle size while in calorie deficit it is a fine line to tread and not for everybody. The reason I said experience/confidence is that you are new back to the gym and your muscles need to adapt to doing the exercise.

If your gym does not have a standing leg curl machine then a lying leg curl is an alternate option. the machine where you push forward with your legs is a leg extension and works the Quadriceps.

For seated rows, the machine you are looking for will either be a cable type machine or a lever type (with or without a pad for your chest to press against)

45_2.jpg


benchmark%20row%20machine.png


A rowing machine on the other hand is a great cardio exercise.

Alternating lat pulldowns and assisted pullups is fine :)
 
Hi Ryan. I'm glad you're getting such good advice re weights etc. I haven't a clue! Just popped in to say hi! Cheers, Cate
 
Thanks for dropping by Cate. Hope all is well.

@Trusylver I don't think I've seen either of those machines. The only thing that looks remotely similar is the lat pull down if I change the bar to that triangle shaped one. However the weights will be pulled vertically rather than horizontally.

I went to the gym this morning... with a hangover. Slowly increasing the weights and it is getting ever more difficult making it a little harder to complete a full set.
 
for seated row it needs to be a horizontal pull, it would be unusual for a gym not to have a machine for these as it is a very common exercise. Does your gym have a cable machine/tower where you can adjust the height of the pulley ? It may be a good idea to ask a gym staff member where the seated row machine is.
 
@Trusylver I'll do that tomorrow when I go to the gym.

I have got off track monitoring and entering my food entries over past 2 weeks. I think I gone off track a little and need to start again; it has lead to me buying/eating a lot of eat-out foods like wraps and sandwiches (especially for lunch) which is probably not good for me.

I ate chips and big beef burger!! Feeling the guilt now. :(

I will weigh myself tomorrow morning; and starting as of Monday I will start logging my diet again.
 
Current weight
120.4kg (+0.4kg)

Steps taken (Week)
47,717

Attended Gym (Week)
Tues, Wed, Thur, Fri


Food Intake
Starting again from next week.​
 
Monday
Breakfast

Nil

Lunch
Ham, Green Leaves, Cherry Tomato roll.​

Dinner
Finishing off green leaves, two eggs, last bit of roll.​

Work out
Another hour and half at gym today. Tried out arm curl machine today - it was ok.​
 
Tuesday
Breakfast

Nil

Pre-Lunch
Spinach, summer berries, mango, greek yoghurt and milk smoothie - didn't realise I bought full fat yoghurt yuck - too creamy!

Lunch
A falafel wrap with salad and mayo.

Dinner
Chicken breast with mixed veg.

An hour or so at the gym during my lunch break. Felt really weak doing my arm exercises - not sure if due to lack of energy through food or because I worked out yesterday. I'm not aching at all it was just a real struggle to lift the weights I normally do at approx 10 reps - in some cases struggling to manage half that.​
 
I lied, the top part of my chest and my arms are a little achey today.

This is the first time I've really felt achey since I complained of the 4 day DOMs.
 
Wednesday
Breakfast
Nil - well a smoothies raspberry, spinach, greek yoghurt, milk, mango.

Lunch
Chicken salad wrap x2 home made, same smoothie as breakfast

Dinner
Pizza

Thursday
Breakfast
Wheatabix x2 with milk and blueberries

Lunch
Mixed grill with apple.cider

Dinner
Nil

Other
Alcoholsaas!!
 
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