- Joined
- Feb 5, 2021
Try a lat pulldown machine at your gym
Weightlifting for Kiwis - Discussion and support regarding the art of swole
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latinlover
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2024
Do negatives and work your way up to the big boy club of being able to pull your bodyweight up.
Elastic bands/pullup machines won't help you in progressing to real pullups so much and lat pulldowns aren't as complete of a movement as pullups are, so just start with negatives and just work your way slowly up to the real thing.
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- Joined
- Aug 1, 2017
Regarding pullups, even if you can't do them just doing partials will gradually get you the strength you need to do them fully. They've been one of my main no-time-for-gym-today back exercises forever and getting one of those cheap door-mounted pullup bars and just doing some whenever you've got downtime cooking/waiting for the microwave/whatever will get you progression way faster than you'd expect.
Also, try different grips. Hands perpendicular to your body offloads some of the force to your arms, so if you're just barely unable to do normal wide-grip ones you might be able to do those.
Also, try different grips. Hands perpendicular to your body offloads some of the force to your arms, so if you're just barely unable to do normal wide-grip ones you might be able to do those.
Good info. Definitely going to look into getting one sometime soon; tried some of the movements from a youtube guide with a #12 sledgehammer I had sitting around and it's a bit light but definitely puts some strain on my shoulders in a way other weights don't.
- Joined
- May 5, 2019
Recently I have been getting more serious about lifting. I'm up to 4-5 times a week, taking rest days as needed.
I started doing creatine at 5 grams and taking a regular protein shake for the first time in my life.
Also, I started training for hypertrophy, going 1-2 reps from failure and focusing on lifts that give my muscles a deep stretch during a rep, hitting both the small and large muscles in any given group. I've seen results doing this, my lifts are increasing every week.
I picked up this book, it has been very helpful:
I recommend it for everyone who lifts. It has detailed break downs of every single lift. It's helped me a lot to hit muscle groups I would have otherwise ignored.
I started doing creatine at 5 grams and taking a regular protein shake for the first time in my life.
Also, I started training for hypertrophy, going 1-2 reps from failure and focusing on lifts that give my muscles a deep stretch during a rep, hitting both the small and large muscles in any given group. I've seen results doing this, my lifts are increasing every week.
I picked up this book, it has been very helpful:
I recommend it for everyone who lifts. It has detailed break downs of every single lift. It's helped me a lot to hit muscle groups I would have otherwise ignored.
Incel Death Note
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2023
Have you guys experienced any good results from adjusting the typical bulk caloric surplus? Has anyone experimented bulking with 50-100+ instead of 300-500+? Would that just be treading water? It feels like 300-500+ every day is a waste, eating calories that you're not going to use for muscle anyway.
latinlover
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2024
I think the average number being thrown around has always been 300, 500 definitely is on the higher end of the bulk and I honestly don't think anyone needs a surplus higher than 500, whether enhanced or not, beginner or not.
I think 300-400 makes perfect sense especially as you also have to factor in human error- do you honestly trust yourself, the labels, etc. etc. enough that you would be able to track calories within an error margin of 50 or even 100, especially when you have a TDEE of 3k+.
I understand wanting to optimize it and of course 2k kcal surplus dreamer bulks are not ideal, but unfortunately there really is no way around you gaining some fat however little the caloric surplus is, that's just the nature of the game.
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2024
With hands pronated, or facing away, is the pullups, and with hands supinated, or facing toward, is the chinup;
Although some may say there's enough overlap between the two that getting chinups down for the sake of pullups is pointless, there might still be some merit in it regardless. Practicing negatives is also a solid strategy.
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2022
Fwiw I had very good progress early on with the assisted pullup/chinup/dip machine, the one where you're doing the same movement + range of motion as the regular exercise but kneeling on a sliding platform to offset some of the weight. If you have one available, use it.
latinlover
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2024
Oh yeah, those are great, and mostly does the same thing as pullups (or negatives) do. I think the main issue with them is that they completely take the core out of the equation- just being held up by the pillow on the sliding platform you don't have to stabilize yourself as much- negatives literally are the exact same motion as regular pullups, just without the concentric part. The one advantage these do have going for them is that they make progress easier to quantify- you just move up 2.5/5lbs or whatever on the machine.
It's obviously just anecdotal evidence, I've previously coached a fairly plump friend preparing for a police pullup test, so his primary goal was quite literally nothing but being able to do as many pullups as possible, which he couldn't do a single one at the time despite having lat pulldowns in his programme for over a year. Negatives were what got him VERY quickly to being able to do his first true and honest chest to the bar pullup. My advice with negatives would be to first try and set a certain goal, like 6 reps a set, work your way slowly up to that focusing on form, then start substituting negatives to actual pullups as soon as you can eg. 1 pullup 5 negatives or whatever in a set. Once it's all pullups you can invest in a chain belt for weights and you can do your progressive overload that way, or just keep increasing the reps unweighted.
I'd say both has its pros. If your goal is to work those particular set of muscles pullup machines are fine, it also feels a lot better to be able to pull yourself up for x reps right from the get go I'd imagine, negatives are 'boring' in this sense. Lat pulldown I'd still say is a different beast seeing as they are open-chained movements as opposed to pullups (whether assisted by bands/the machine or not) which are close-chained. If your goal is doing pullups specifically then I do think negatives might be better, if not, the weighted machines might be easier to get going with.
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2019
What your guys opinion on wall mounted pull up/dip stations? Are they better than the free standing stations?
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2023
Gentlemen, I have recently hit a somewhat long time goal of deadlifting 5 plates and squatting 4 plates. I'd like to continue progressing, I've only been lifting for six months or so and I'm concerned I'm going to hit the plateau sometime soon. It seems that whenever I had hit a new PB before I was fairly confident based on how hard it was I could do more but these recent ones were a little different, any advice on keeping up the pace?
My lifting partner and I always lift to failure on each set, shooting for 6-12 reps, and go three times a week. I'm also planning on changing my diet to get that recommended 1-1.5 g of protein per KG of weight to help too. What else can I do?
My lifting partner and I always lift to failure on each set, shooting for 6-12 reps, and go three times a week. I'm also planning on changing my diet to get that recommended 1-1.5 g of protein per KG of weight to help too. What else can I do?
latinlover
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2024
Are you asking which one to use at your gym or which one to get for your home?
For the first question, it doesn't matter at all.
For the second one, only you know what fits your current living situation better, if you live in an apartment I'd be careful with those screw in pullup bars, every single time I've used them it fucked up the paintjob in the best case scenario and absolutely fucked the walls in the worst.
5 plates dl/4 plate squat after only six months of lifting? Are you counting by combining the plates on both sides or 5/4 plate each? If the latter, jesus, how much do you weigh to be squatting 405 pounds after half a year?
My advice would be to not go for your 1RM, ever, unless you need to. You can extrapolate it from your multirep sets sort of, doing 1RM especially as a novice lifter with imperfect form is just begging for accidents to happen.
Doing compound lifts to failure at your level is a horrible idea, especially if you aren't following a set program, which I'm not sure you are considering there are very few novice routines that recommend sets of 12 deadlifts/squats- as a reference, doing 5x5 at 80% of your 1 rep maximum should be RPE 9 (rate of perceived exertion, basically YOU rate it mentally how tough that particular lift was out of a scale of 10, 10 being literally 1 step away from failure) .
If your goal is increasing your major lifts I'd look into a powerlifting gym near you, or even an online powerlifting coach who's going to help you with form through you recording videos and sending it to them, and them giving you a proper routine and advice on form. If poorfag or lazy (but again, a coach is cheaper than spinal surgery), just look into any of the beginner routines like Stronglifts. At your level it should be fine, afterwards you can start looking into stuff like Madcow or as I previously advised getting a coach who sets you up for custom programming.
1-1.5g of protein per bw/kg should be fine, some people swear by more than that but it's mostly broscience, you'll be fine.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2015
Everything is a pull up bar or dip bar if you're brave. Personally, I think what ever lets you get a better range of motion, and grip is what you should use, forget broscience of this is .00003% better, do what you like.
This is coming from someone who has a "pull up tree" in the front yard.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2023
Yea, 5/4 plates on each side, 45 lb bar, so dl 495 lbs squat 405 lbs, for what its worth my bench is 265. My lifting friend isn't that far behind me at something like 235/335/415 but he weighs a hundred pounds less than I do, is younger, and lifted in high school. I weigh 260, I've basically been at the same weight the whole time too which I've been optimistically hoping means that I've just been losing fat/gaining muscle at around the same weight and used that as an excuse to be lazy about eating better but trying to change.
The guy I lift with usually is the one who chooses what exercises we do each day but its back/legs/chest mon/wed/fri, it seems we do a good variety of different exercises so we don't just hit the same stuff every time. I'm not sure that I'd call the gym we go to a powerlifitng gym per se, but its cheap, on the way home from work for us both, and has plenty of weights and machines around. There are definately powerlifting guys who work out there too, do competitions and the like, the ones I've asked are in the 600+ range on DL/500 squat/ high 300s bench but a few also go to another gym around here somewhere with 'calibrated plates' and things like that.
We usually end up nearer the bottom of that range, if we're at 12 or near it we'll add more weight set after set unitl we're more like 6 or 8 and then do a few sets at that weight and then move to another exersise, doing three or four different things per workout.
What level is high enough to move on to a coach, whats the best way to guage that? Certain weight lifted/difficulty advancing?
latinlover
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2024
If those are the actual numbers, you both have far above average genetics if this is after half a year of fucking around without a programme, congrats.
So you essentially are just doing whatever, it's not great if you want to improve. As I said, you want to pick a routine and stick to it. Here's a few.
Yesterday was the right time. If you have one at your gym, hire a (competent, preferably a male with either bodybuilding/powerlifting background or both) personal trainer for like 2-3 weeks, make sure your form is fine and then you can just do your own, chosen routine afterwards with much higher confidence and a lower risk of injury.
Compound lifts are not something you'll be able to learn as an autodidact. If you're deadlifting 5 plates after 6 months your form is likely atrocious, but that's alright, because it's easy to correct it with the right input.
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2023
If anyone is needing a program I don't mind building one for you. I enjoy doing them and used to do them quite a bit up until like last year. No money no strings attached. Just want to give back to the community someway somehow.
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2023
@latinlover I appreciate the advice and will see what I can find locally.
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2021
You're welcome to send one my way if for no reason other than inspiration to mix up my routine. What I'm looking for:
Goal: Get big and strong.
Schedule: 6 days a week.
Current split:
1. Cardio/Core
2. Push
3. Pull
4. Legs
5. Rest
Repeat (So day 6 goes back to 1).
Current target range: 3 sets × 6-10 reps
Things I currently never do: True squats (Various presses only), deadlifts, bench press. I am lowkey afraid of hurting myself with these lol.
Things I need to target better: Arms, rear delts, shoulders. Eat more.
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2023
From your goal I would probably organize it as so:
1. 15-20 minute light cardio to warm up into Push
2. 15-20 minute light cardio warm up into Pull
3. 15-20 Minute light cardio warm up into Legs
So 3 good days of heavy lifting for strength. 3 sets to 6-10 is fine you could even go as low as 3-5 for strength.
Considering your worries about hurting yourself I will say get more comfortable using a Smith Machine. A lot of people meme on it but it's one of the best machines par none and if anyone says otherwise they're a nigger or a DYEL.
Push: Smith Machine Incline Bench Press (Reason being is A. you're targeting your pecks and shoulders. B. It's more safe to bail out if too heavy.)
Pull: Smith Machine Barbell Rows (Easier to bail out if need be)
Legs: Smith Machine Squats or Leg Press (Choose one. Still easy to bail if need be)
I would focus these as your big 3. These are the ones you can track your progress on easily and they are all compound lifts as well. If you're lifting with proper form you'll also recruit your abdomen for stability.
In terms of arms try assisted pull ups and assisted dips, or even unassisted. They are the best I believe and dips also promote shoulder strength as well.
My go to rear delt exercise is just reverse flies. Go to the pec deck machine and face the opposite direction and make sure the machine is adjusted all the way back so that when you grab the handles your arms are extended out in front of you. Try light weight first and then increase as needed.
Don't worry about doing deadlifts unless your training for competition. Deadlifts risks to rewards ratio is bad for average gym goers.
For eating more shit man just have a little junk food to your diet if you have the calories for it. At the end of the day bulking or cutting is determined by caloric intake and energy expenditure. So if you need 2,000 and eat 1,900 your cutting and if you eat 2,100 your bulking. There of course different effects that come from different foods, but that's another wall of text for another day. I hope I've helped and if I need to go in more depth let me know.
DeutscheKatze
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2023
might sound super autistic, but:
has anyone done selftests like microdosing aspirin over a long amount of time?
or anything else, that benefited you surprisingly positive? especially in health/ workout terms
has anyone done selftests like microdosing aspirin over a long amount of time?
or anything else, that benefited you surprisingly positive? especially in health/ workout terms