[[[The 2022 Gym Rats Thread]]] ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ
- Thread starter Somnambulist
- Start date
Man of Honour
My power sets are 5x5 (yesterday was 170kg squats)
My volume sets are 4x15 (last set was 105 for 15... **** that ****... horrible. I struggled to complete the work out with lunges and RDLs after that.... )
The split is:
Power Upper - Day 1
Power Lower - Day 2
Volume Upper - Day 3
Volume Lower - Day 4
Man of Honour
I like to punish myself
I find the blend of volume and power has helped me get back into it as the assistance stuff is the stuff I don't tend to do - I tend to stick to the big 3 plus OHP. But with the cable attachement there's a lot of fun assistance stuff that I'm enjoying again. The volume stuff is really get for stimulating those fibres that don't get the stimulation normally.
If I do 3x3 of 200kg squats for example that's "only" 1,800Kg.
If I do 4x15 of 105kg squats for example that's 6,300kg.
However both recruit different levels of intensity, the 3x3 is higher intensity generally as the weight is higher.
I've never done a blended programme before, but I'm really enjoying it as I got a bit bored of just low volume high intensity workouts.
I do need some dumbbells though to add a bit more variation.
Soldato
My friend who is a strong man has given me a routine to help improve certain PRs.
Yesterday was my first new legs session. Everything was really light as it's designed to ramp up but included front squats and Bulgarian split squats which admittedly I've never done before but they absolutely wrecked me. I had to leave the gym immediately after and skip BJJ. I was really dizzy, felt sick etc for a good hour at least.
I've had the above but only for minutes at a time or after a truly monstrous session but never for so long and after such a mild session.
It's only my second week back post covid (which I barely had any symptoms with) and last week was light but still tough (albeit with my regular routine). I'm hoping it was just a weird blip of a day.
Yesterday was my first new legs session. Everything was really light as it's designed to ramp up but included front squats and Bulgarian split squats which admittedly I've never done before but they absolutely wrecked me. I had to leave the gym immediately after and skip BJJ. I was really dizzy, felt sick etc for a good hour at least.
I've had the above but only for minutes at a time or after a truly monstrous session but never for so long and after such a mild session.
It's only my second week back post covid (which I barely had any symptoms with) and last week was light but still tough (albeit with my regular routine). I'm hoping it was just a weird blip of a day.
Man of Honour
Bulgarian split squats are known to bring even the most hardened of gym rats to their knees
Soldato
Welcome to split squats, truly one of the most awful exercise to get through lol
It's a funny one as from the outside it doesn't seem that bad but it definitely feels it when completing a set.
It's a funny one as from the outside it doesn't seem that bad but it definitely feels it when completing a set.
Soldato
Well at least I know I have this to look forward to every week then. 
Only exercise that reliably gives me a tension headache within a couple of sets. 
Man of Honour
Try deficit Bulgarian split squats if you want to feel like a newborn learning to walk. Tbh a newborn would be more stable!
Different topic, do you reckon Arnie is on TRt after the years of abuse his body underwent with his "supplementation"? Because he looks amazing for his age. In America it seems TRt is given out like sweets.
Different topic, do you reckon Arnie is on TRt after the years of abuse his body underwent with his "supplementation"? Because he looks amazing for his age. In America it seems TRt is given out like sweets.
Man of Honour
Almost certainly.
Not only is it very easy for them to get but the doseages and levels they aim for over there are much higher than drs here aim for.
They'll also happily prescribe nandrolone/anavar and various peptides/hgh as long as you pay for it.
Soldato
PEDs are rife in hollywood so would not surprised and like Tom said you just need the correct dodgy doctor who will almost give you anything.
Man of Honour
and yet the states have one of the highest heart issues... ok not causal but still.
Part of me is glad that it's harder to get over here (despite them not being illegal to own?) but I also wish there was more focus on it. HRT is now an accepted issue for women (and so it should! It's devastating hormonally and emotionally), I think there does need to be more focus on it from a male perspective.
That said, I think LIE mentioned it somewhere, it's not something that you just do once and it's fixed, it's for life, and that's a big investment and worry.
Anyway, doesn't matter what Arnie does, he would find deficit bulgarian split squats puke inducing - it's the only exercise I struggle with mentally.
Man of Honour
PED != TRT. Well perhaps in the USA, but in the UK the clinics exist, but it's far more controlled in terms of dosage and so on, it's about optimising and balancing your hormonal profile, rather than giving you supraelevated levels - I think the CQC would shut that down pretty swiftly. That said I did fleetingly to look into it owing to my age, but having regular blood work done my hormonal profile is pretty good / stable, and I have no desire to add medication to my daily life! And we still; don't know enough about the long term effects, unlike HRT which has been studied a lot longer.
Soldato
Let me rephrase that........ I think he's probably on a bit more than trt
Man of Honour
Let me rephrase that........ I think he's probably on a bit more than trt
Oh on that I'm 100% in agreement... and so are most of the people that post on social media with insane bodies.
Soldato
I don't know much about trt to be honest. I'm late 20s so the only people that I know have dabbled with it, it wasn't prescribed and they were the ones taking everything under the sun in their early 20s..... let's put it that way lol
Man of Honour
Legal to own although there is a grey area as black market stuff could be classed as counterfeit medication and therefore not technically legal to own but no ones going to get into hot water for a couple of bottles of test.
It's very hard to get here on the NHS, almost impossible unless you're producing no testosterone what so ever.
From your levels you posted earlier in the thread you're only a couple of points off being eligible if you had supporting symptoms according to the BSSM guidelines which are what private TRT providers follow so it is easyish to get over here if you're prepared to pay as well.
It's definitely something the NHS should take more seriously though. I went to the drs mid last year with all the symptoms of low test but their first avenue is depression, it took some pushing to get them to agree to look at my test levels which I already knew were low from private tests. If I hadn't of been aware that it could have been that I'd probably be on happy pills pushing my hormones even more out of whack right now.
Unfortunately even then they only focus on Total test which is a poor marker of deficiency which meant I was out at the first hurdle with them, although that may have been a blessing in disguise as they use very outdated protocols compared to private clinics.
Since Oct last year I've been on private TRT and feel a million times more human, it is a lifetime commitment but better than being numbed up on anti depressants for the rest of your days masking and worsening the real issue.
Man of Honour