So, Protein Powders...

jb8521

Yeah been drinking plenty of water. I havent been doing an awful lot of lifting with my legs either as i have had a lot of knee problems in the past so been doing mainly upper body weights cycling and using a vibration plate

Badunk

There should be no biomechanical reason that you shouldn't be able to squat ATG, Chuck. Some people need to widen their stance, others need to narrow it and some need to point their toes outwards. If I was you, I'd lower the weight (say to 40kg) and play around with the stances until you get it right. Going to parallel can harm your knees if you're not careful.

ACE1981

these vibration plate do they really work ? i look at them and think how can that work

Badunk

They dont work for weight training. I think they might have some use in aiding athletes like high jumpers, but they wont help you add muscle.

ACE1981

wot about losing weight as these shopping channels advertise them for weight loss which i cant see how

Badunk

Losing weight is mostly diet. Eat a calorific deficit and you will lose weight. Dont believe those infomercials.

EvilChuck

My heels are slightly wider than shoulder width, and my feet point outwards ~30 degrees. I squat low bar though, so if I go ATG my lower back will round. My traps arent big enough for me to comfortably squat high bar. Why will parallel hurt my knees? I've read that not hitting parallel could be bad, but parallel or lower is fine, the depth being determined by whether you squat high or low bar

ACE1981

yeah i know it calorie in calories out as thats how i done my 10st loss
just these infochannel make it sound so easy to lose weight lol it basically saying to lazy azz'z to do nothing just stand on it for 3 min a day and you will lose weight and tone up lol i had to grin and some will believe them lol

Badunk

At parallel, the compressive forces on the kneecap are at their highest. Decelerating, stopping and reversing direction at this point could lead to pain, strains or worse. If you cant squat with any depth yet, my advice is to ditch the squat and work on your flexibility until you can.

Burrow

Have you tried to work to build some muscle by doing squats in the Smith Machine before you do regular squats? Some people find the Smith Machine easier to squat in if they are struggling to squat. And in some cases, taking off your shoes might help you with the technique aswell.

Badunk

Yeah, I always squat barefoot. Makes it easier to push through the heels and improves the mind-muscle-connection.

Badunk

Squats: How to Master Proper Exercise Technique Once and For All | StrongLifts.com

Badunk

Chuck, what does your leg workout entail? What exercises do you do and in what order? Do you stretch beforehand? If so, is it static or dynamic? Do you do any foam rolling?

Gio

I squat deep, but in fairness to Chuck squatting to parallel is a lot better than half or quarter squatting which is most common in commercial gyms. I thought it was the half-squat position (90') which was the riskiest for depth.

EvilChuck

The guy in the video on that link is the exact depth I go to, is that considered below parallel..? I already go barefoot as well (same with deadlifts, makes sure I'm pushing through my heels).

My leg workout last time out was
4x10 squats 75kg (warm up sets 1x5 with no weight, 1x5 just the oly bar [20kg], 1x5 40kg, 1x5 60kg)
3x15 leg press 140kg (warm up sets 1x3 increasing 20kg each time until I reach working weight)
4x20 calf raises 70kg
3x10 seated hamstring curls 35kg per leg (one warm up set x10 reps using both legs on what I use for working weight)

Preferably its in that order, but sometimes I'll have to switch things around depending on availability of equipment.

I foam roll my hamstrings and glutes before every workout regardless of what I'm doing that day. I do static stretches for all of my leg muscles before each workout (as well as whatever I plan on working that day), but I like the look of that squat to stand stretch from the stronglifts link, so I'll start doing that as well.

Badunk

I'm usually loathe to tell people "you should do this" coz we're all different and I believe in trying things for yourself until you find what works for you. However, I can tell you what I do and the reasoning behind it, and it might give you some food for thought. I'll do it in my next post coz I can only write so many characters at once (I'm on my phone).

Badunk

Before I go to the gym, I foam roll my hams, quads, calves, hips, and upper/lower back. At the gym I do dynamic stretches: high kicks for hams, lunges for quads, standing calf raises with no weights and some back work which is hard to describe here.

I superset leg curls and leg extensions with light weights, holding the weight for a count of 3 at the peak of the contraction, then releasing slowly on the negative and exploding on the way back up. I do 4 sets of this. While resting between sets, I perform

Badunk

some hanging leg raises (to prepare my core). 12-15 reps, 4 sets. When I've done all this, I'll do a set of 12 reps of hyper extensions. I hold at the peak for a count of 2-3 seconds. I dont use any weight coz I just want to waken my lower back. Now that I've foam rolled, stretched and activated all the major muscles involved in the squat, I squat. Since we've already discussed it, I'll move on.

Badunk

I then do 4 sets of hack squats (going as low as the machine will let me), before moving onto leg press. The reason I do hacks before presses is that I dont push as much weight on the hacks if I do them 2nd, but it doesnt seem to affect the presses if I do hacks first. 4 sets of presses (very high reps on medium weight, dropping the reps and increasing the weight with each set), with the 4th set being a dropset until I'm fucked. Then 4 supersets of seated and standing calf raises to finish. Et voila! Done!

EvilChuck

And the important questions... how much are you squatting, and how big are your legs? (I'm assuming you're training for hypertrophy as well as strength..)

Badunk

130kg is my record, but I'm currently doing the 20 rep squat program and am currently on 85kg for 20 reps (you add 2.5kg every time you visit the gym). So in another 6 sessions I'll be squatting 100kg for 20, and I wont be stopping there! Hack squats my best is 100kg for 6, but my last session I did 4 sets of 8 at 67.5kg. Leg press, my record is 13 plates for 10 reps, but last session I did 9 plates for 20, 10 for 14, 11 for 10 and finished with a dropset. Not stellar numbers, but my legs are growing.

EvilChuck

How long have you been lifting?

Badunk

3 years.

The first year I tend to dismiss coz I barely touched complex movements or free weights. Raxinfraxin gym trainer!

Spoony Kobayashi

alright cunts? right...advice would be appreciated. I've lost 1/2 of muscle all over my body due to illness...now how do get it back ASAP? and yep, it's fucking pee'd me off. In fact too much.

gormless

I'm in a similar scenario due to injury. Went from 13 stone to 11. Started training again towards the end of January and I'm back to 12 now. It comes back a lot quicker due to muscle memory. And I've just started using a product called M-Stak. Its a "nutrient partitioner" so it helps clean calories be converted into muscle, as well as increasing my appetite. It also has a stimulant pill for pre workout. Not sure how much of gaining a stone in just over a month is muscle memory and how much is M-Stak. Basically you'll get it back a lot quicker than you originally gained it

Badunk

Just do what you did to get the muscle in the first place. It'll come back.

TheReligion

Just got some creatine. Haven't used it for a while. Never bothered with the loading phase so when does everyone suggest I use it for optimal results?

Burrow

Sit down and make out a program that you'll stick to for a few months, go into the gym and go through it all once then load up on creatine, glutamine, protein and go nuts. Just do a few weeks with about 80 or 90% of your max weight to avoid causing any strains / tendon issues. I would recommend to warmup pretty good before every single one of your workout sessions in the beginning though, to avoid any injuries.

Burrow

I use mine pre and post-workout. I use caps though, but splitting your dosage into both your pre and post-workout proteinshake is what I used to do

mboRa ndomHer0723

Just eat a little bit more for a few weeks and you should be back to normal

Gio

I'd be looking at focussing on three things Spoony.

First, frequency of session - the quicker you can get back in the gym regularly, the quicker you'll get your strength back. Little value in doing a heavy session which, because you've been out for ages, takes you a week to recover from.

Second, build up the volume - again you won't be able to lift the same weights, so it makes sense to focus on medium reps to build up your capacity and get some direct hypertrophy in.

Third, I'd then go back to lower reps, by which point most of your muscle should have returned and you can focus on bigging up your max strength.

championo

On protein powders, I have stopped using them and instead have started to eat lost of cottage cheese 1% small curd. I started about two months ago and I look trimmer and see more cuts. The protein powders made me look big without lots of definition. Now I eat eggs and cottage cheese, lentils, black beans, black eye peas, and chicken breast. Needless to say lots of vegetables and fruits in between meals. I am looking the best I have in all my life.
If you can afford it, the best cottage cheese is the one made by breakstones. A bit expensive but the taste makes up for it. The rest are a chore to eat.

Spoony Kobayashi

Cheers, folks. Strength is back, but I'll continue the diet for a month before going back on the cut.

Kaos

Just got myself a power rack and dipping station, home gym almost complete

Badunk

I've been doing a lot of research lately on the timing of nutrients and the use of post-workout supplements. Now, I was under the impression that a protein+carb drink, containing fast-acting ingredients, was a bodybuilding commandment and was integral to my training. Follow that with a P+C meal an hour later and you are optimizing your gains. Turns out that I could achieve the same results with 'chocolate milk and a banana'. I'm always ready to try new things, so I'm gonna give it a go!

Badunk

Check out Lyle McDonald and Alan Aragon for more details.

Gio

Aye chocolate milk is a 'fast-acting protein+carb drink'. Your average bottle of Frij - which I'm drinking now after my morning legs workout - contains 63g carbs, 20g protein and 4-5g fat. Pretty good ratio in keeping with most of the research on post-workout nutrition. Not an expert on nutrition, but I understand the milk itself is insulinogenic which is what you're looking for immediately after a heavy session.

Badunk

Yup. And if it saves me a few bob in supplements, all the better.

Sojiro

I've never had Frij...is it a 500 ml bottle? I have heard the benefits of Chocolate milk recently though never looked too heavily into it.

poisson

What do you lot make of this drink straight after a workout??

Maximuscle's Maxi-milk

30g's of protein and 16g's of fat in each serving.

Good post workout meal??