Roger/Waffle pointlessly pushing iron up in the air thread (warning: geekery)

[EK WAFFLR]

I am spaghetti. And this was assistance work/building day.

[Doktor Howl]

I am spaghetti. And this was assistance work/building day.

I bet.  Today is MORE SHOULDERS.

I ain't questioning the trainer, here.  There are definite, measurable results.

It's just SO MUCH SHOULDERS.

[Dubya]

Be very conscious of proper form with the shoulders. Rotator cuff injuries suck.

[Doktor Howl]

Be very conscious of proper form with the shoulders. Rotator cuff injuries suck.

Yep.  This is why I pay for a proper trainer.

[Dubya]

Wish there were a few proper trainers here. The last time I set foot in the gym here, there were three trainers, all busy with clients, all egging said clients on to "one more rep!" at the expense of good form. I did a few sets and got the hell out.

Kind of makes me wonder if the gym's owner would be open to hiring me on. You know, on the basis of uninjured customers are happier customers.

Then again, the MMA types that frequent the place might think it beneath them to be tortured trained by an aging, bespectacled fat bastard. Got to try it now that I think of it in those terms. Lulz to be had and SCIENCE to be done.

[Doktor Howl]

Wish there were a few proper trainers here. The last time I set foot in the gym here, there were three trainers, all busy with clients, all egging said clients on to "one more rep!" at the expense of good form. I did a few sets and got the hell out.

Kind of makes me wonder if the gym's owner would be open to hiring me on. You know, on the basis of uninjured customers are happier customers.

Then again, the MMA types that frequent the place might think it beneath them to be tortured trained by an aging, bespectacled fat bastard. Got to try it now that I think of it in those terms. Lulz to be had and SCIENCE to be done.

The trainer I have stops you if your form is shit.  Then you rest, and try again.

[EK WAFFLR]

One of the girls I train with told me about a PT she had while working out at a regular commercial gym. While she did her squats, bench presses and deadlifts, he did bicep curls. For two hours.
"He looked like a plank with huge arms."

[Dubya]

One of the girls I train with told me about a PT she had while working out at a regular commercial gym. While she did her squats, bench presses and deadlifts, he did bicep curls. For two hours.
"He looked like a plank with huge arms."

[Dubya]

Imagine Shaquille O'Neal squished down to 5'9". That's what Koffi looks like, who runs the gym here. He looks me up and down, then laughs. Then he tells me he doesn't pay trainers. He just has them sign a contract releasing him from liability if someone they're training gets hurt. Then he tells me he'd be happy to put up a flyer for me on the board if I want to do that.

So now I get to draw up a flyer so I can subject unsuspecting people to my high school weights coach's program. 

[Doktor Howl]

Deadlift now at 325 Lbs (147.5 Kg).

I am a sore monkey.

[EK WAFFLR]

Deadlift now at 325 Lbs (147.5 Kg).

I am a sore monkey.

Sweet.

I did squats for the first time in 3 weeks on Monday. It went well. I work up to a single at 137,5 on my heavy squat days, and this was easy, eve after the tonsilitis and the drunkenness weeks.
I also tried sumo squats for the first time. My hamstrings are dead.

I also started doing dragon flags for abs, since I find sit ups to be deathly boring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njKXkuhY7_0
Only the negative movement so far though. My abs are melting.

[rong]

would those of you that have a trainer (or training experience?) mind asking (or providing) some feedback regarding what i believe is called circuit training?

i'm not really looking to bulk up - just tone and shed fat.  i'm pretty satisfied with my current size and strength level - mainly just trying to shed the beer gut without giving up beer and i sure as shit fucking hate doing cardio.

what i've begun doing is, instead of doing 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps (depending on the excercise) and then moving on to the next exercise is doing 1 set of each excercise with no breaks in between.  i then do 3 "circuits" so, in the end, its still 3 sets of everything.  each muscle group gets a break, but I don't because i immediately move to the next exercise.

i've found it to definitely increase my sweat production and respiration -so it seems to be combining the benefits of weight training with the benefits of cardio (i fucking hate doing cardio)

another bonus to this style workout is that it shaves about 10 minutes off my workout time since i'm not taking breaks between sets. 

for me, 10 minutes sometimes means the difference between "do i have time to work out today?"

1 circuit for me consists of:

squats
dead lift
shoulder shrugs
bent over row
bench press
crunches (20 reps here)
plank (1 minute on each side)
shoulder raises
curls

i do this 3 times per week.

i've read a lot of mixed opinions online but would appreciate some "real world" opinions

[Doktor Howl]

would those of you that have a trainer (or training experience?) mind asking (or providing) some feedback regarding what i believe is called circuit training?

i'm not really looking to bulk up - just tone and shed fat.  i'm pretty satisfied with my current size and strength level - mainly just trying to shed the beer gut without giving up beer and i sure as shit fucking hate doing cardio.

what i've begun doing is, instead of doing 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps (depending on the excercise) and then moving on to the next exercise is doing 1 set of each excercise with no breaks in between.  i then do 3 "circuits" so, in the end, its still 3 sets of everything.  each muscle group gets a break, but I don't because i immediately move to the next exercise.

i've found it to definitely increase my sweat production and respiration -so it seems to be combining the benefits of weight training with the benefits of cardio (i fucking hate doing cardio)

another bonus to this style workout is that it shaves about 10 minutes off my workout time since i'm not taking breaks between sets. 

for me, 10 minutes sometimes means the difference between "do i have time to work out today?"

1 circuit for me consists of:

squats
dead lift
shoulder shrugs
bent over row
bench press
crunches (20 reps here)
plank (1 minute on each side)
shoulder raises
curls

i do this 3 times per week.

i've read a lot of mixed opinions online but would appreciate some "real world" opinions

My opinion and that of my trainer is that this shit works...

BUT:  Never approach your max while doing it.  Don't even come close.

[rong]

No, I don't even know what my max is.  I'm usually alone, so I try to do a weight that I can comfortably do 10 reps on the first set.  That way, I can stop at 5 or 7 reps on the 2nd or 3rd set if I feel I'm straining myself.

[EK WAFFLR]

It works. Keep going, rong. Is good.