Weightlifting for Kiwis - Discussion and support regarding the art of swole

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Nanashi no kiwi said:
First, a broad question: Is the whole "free weights are better than machines" thing a meme? Does it depend on what your goals are?
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Depends on what your goals are. Machines are better at targeting specific muscles which is why you might see body builders use mostly machines. Free weights hit multiple muscle groups and especially your stabilising muscle that the machine won't hit, so a more 'functional' strength. Both have their place though in a good routine though experiment and see what you prefer.
 
Hyper Vigilant Dumbass said:
Dumbell Romanian Deadlift is pretty good.
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While true about hitting many major muscle groups, a Romanian deadlift will work much more on the hamstring than if he would do stiffs and will generally hit lower back and traps better

Edit: In addition to what Corvo says, Machines and free weights work hand in hand, most people use a combination of both, like I do Rows on a machine because bent over rows just kill my forearms with the amount of weight I use for back workouts and almost my entire back workout is comprised of machines, while all of my shoulder workout is free weights or cable related.
Id recommend using a mix of both if u are working for hypertrophy, and only really focusing on free weights if you are focusing on strength, but its always good to have some machine or even calisthenics for accessories even if you do powerlifting, cuz sometimes isolating smaller muscle groups will help your big lifts in the case of machines and calisthenics will work on fibers and joints and other mainly back related muscle groups that you won't really hit as much from doing strictly powerlifting.

Edit 2: If you wanna take my current workout schedule/routine as an example then I have posted it

(all workouts are 3x12 or 3x17 rotated bi-weekly also weight moves and changes with progressive overload/schedule)

Workout A Back And Biceps
Back:
Deadlifts 160 KG or 120 KG
Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 90 KG or 65 KG
Rows 140 KG or 100 KG
Cable Pullovers Max Machine or 60/40 KG /Neutral Grip Lat pulldowns 85/60
Bicep:
Seated Curls 16 KG and 12 KG
Seated Hammer Curls 18 KG and 14 KG (train brachialis dont be gay)
Ez Bar Preacher 12.5 kg each side or 7.5 kg each side
One Handed cable curls 7.5/10 KG really slow movement really try and feel the stretch

Workout B Chest and Triceps:
Bench:
Bench Press 105 KG 3x12 85 3x17
Incline Dumbell Bench Press 37.5 KG dumbells or 30 KG (my upper chest is comparatively weak)
Seated Machine/Dumbell Flyes if I do machine than 112.5/100 or 18 KG dumbells
Cable Flyes 17.5 KG 12.5 KG slow moving aim to feel the stretch target lower chest
Triceps:
Rope Cable Pressdowns 30 or 22.5 KG (can fluctuate a lot due to chest working triceps a lot indirectly)
Crushers I have no consistent weight tho to tell you
Overhead Rope Extention
Straight bar cable pressdown 35/27.5
Sometimes i strap some weight on me and do parallels and in general I experiment a lot here currently

Workout C Leg hell and shoulders:
Legs:
Squats or Front Squats 150 KG 3x12 (I dont do 17) or 100 KG if a front squat the reason why I do high rep range for squats its cuz contracts a lot of muscle groups altogether and its a great warmup for the rest of the day
RDLs 160 KG 3x12 or 120x17 (hardest exercise, try and feel the squeeze for the hamstring low and slow preferably have straps so your forearms dont give up on you)
Barbell Lunges 100 or 90 KG
Seated leg curl 85 KG or 70 KG
Lying leg curl 65 or 55 KG (same stuff for the RDL stands here aside from straps yknow)
Leg Extentions (as much weight as possible at this point)
Sometimes I do calf raises here but I played soccer my entire childhood and my calves are pretty big so I slack and I do them whenever mid week
Shoulders:
Seated Shoulder Press 35 KGx12 or 32.5x17 (the low change is cuz i have a fucked up left shoulder due to injury and it gives up faster than my right i can probably do 40x12 but I do conservative weight for shoulder health)
Egyptian Lat Raises 15 KG or 10 KG
Lat Raises 16-18 KG or 12-10 KG
Front Raises 12-10/8 KG
Machine Seated Reverse Flyes 90/70 KG slow movement
Rope Facepull 25 KG

Abdominals I do every other day and I do yoga somewhat daily, 40 minute cardio after a workout 4 workouts a week a day of recovery between each

I know some of you are probably less autistic than me about this, but I would like to know how you guys diet or supplament stack.

I take creatine, multivitamins, magnesium, beta alanine, l-citruline, omega 3 and sometimes Ashwaganda
I do follow a menu (very strictly when cutting), I usually operate between 78 to 86 KG bodyweight and I do 2 month cuts that are pretty brutal/clean between 3 month mass periods
 
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MajinGoku said:
I am trying to build up my upper chest what exercises would you recomend beside a bench press?
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Incline Bench Press, Peck Deck, Flies, Standing Incline Cable Chest Press.
SongsWithoutWords said:
I know some of you are probably less autistic than me about this, but I would like to know how you guys diet or supplament stack.

I take creatine, multivitamins, magnesium, beta alanine, l-citruline, omega 3 and sometimes Ashwaganda
I do follow a menu (very strictly when cutting), I usually operate between 78 to 86 KG bodyweight and I do 2 month cuts that are pretty brutal/clean between 3 month mass periods
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The only supplements I take are creatine, vitamin D, caffeine, and protein powder. 40%/20%/40% (Protein/Fats/Carbs)
I track my progress through monthly Inbody tests at my gym, and weighing myself every now and then just to gauge where I'm at bodyweight wise.
 
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Hyper Vigilant Dumbass said:
Incline Bench Press, Peck Deck, Flies, Standing Incline Cable Chest Press.

The only supplements I take are creatine, vitamin D, caffeine, and protein powder. 40%/20%/40% (Protein/Fats/Carbs)
I track my progress through monthly Inbody tests at my gym, and weighing myself every now and then just to gauge where I'm at bodyweight wise.
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I only have acess to a pair of dumbells and a flat bench to work out using my limitations what other exercises would you recomend
 
SongsWithoutWords said:
I know some of you are probably less autistic than me about this, but I would like to know how you guys diet or supplament stack.

I take creatine, multivitamins, magnesium, beta alanine, l-citruline, omega 3 and sometimes Ashwaganda
I do follow a menu (very strictly when cutting), I usually operate between 78 to 86 KG bodyweight and I do 2 month cuts that are pretty brutal/clean between 3 month mass periods
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Nothing crazy over here. Vitamin d, omega 3, and turmeric for joint health. I’m a strong believer in getting necessary vitamins from food rather than supplements, but sometimes it cannot be helped.

Diet wise I literally just follow the advice of Jack Lalanne except with meat and no fruit juice (way too much sugar without the benefits fruit usually has). Limiting or entirely cutting out processed food and sugar is key to a healthy diet imo.
 
Alright lads:

I'm nearing full strength. PT is going amazing and if it all goes right, I'm back to the gym by the end of next week.

Do I immediately head back to the gym or do I focus on my own desired personal record for highest number of a stupid esoteric exercise: diamond-clapping pushups?

My record thus far (probably early 2023) was 35 diamond clapping pushup for 4 sets (1.5-2 minutes of rest in between).

However, it is a calisthenic exercise that depends on a lot of rest days. Going to the gym is more practical in terms of simple hypertrophy and, thus strength. What do? Also, does anyone else who experienced enthesitis/tendinitis injuries have any familiarity with achieving and surpassing the same level of strength?

I'm honestly just scared that as soon as I do one single wussy push up, my shoulder is blowing out (no pain as of writing this, however :) ).

Btw if anyone thinks I'm full of shit, I'm more than happy to dox a set of reps once my shoulder is given an all clear from the doc.
 
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MAAAD said:
What set of dumbbell exercises would you fellas recommend to engage a maximum amount of muscles possible?
I have close to zero body fat, if that matters.
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You're gonna need to bulk a bit if you want to see results. Protein shakes are nice for that, especially if mixed with milk. Otherwise there's no material for your body to build muscle with.

Last six months I finally started to go to gym proper and I ate for two the whole time. I had like an additional 2-4kg of weight on top and many go way beyond. See what works for you.
 
MAAAD said:
What set of dumbbell exercises would you fellas recommend to engage a maximum amount of muscles possible?
I have close to zero body fat, if that matters.
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dumbells are not the point you should start at
start with body weight
at least a week of push ups and sit ups every day
make it your go to bed ritual to work out
when you realize it became too easy start eating more meat and dairy
increase your protein intake(NO NOT PROTEIN SHAKES!)
your primary strength level should be a balance between your dumbell set and your push up amount
at some point you can ignore it but not at the beginning
the most important thing is that you gain weight and still can do at least a 10x3 push up regime every day
 
Been doing rice bucket training. Just a basic five minute follow along workout every morning.
My hands and forearms feel phenomenal, much more balanced. I would recommend it to anyone who grips heavy things a lot, or even just uses their hands a lot.
 
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VeteranOfTheRetardWars said:
Been doing rice bucket training. Just a basic five minute follow along workout every morning.
My hands and forearms feel phenomenal, much more balanced. I would recommend it to anyone who grips heavy things a lot, or even just uses their hands a lot.
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Rice training is excellent conditioning for the hands, also allowing for a bit of extensor work from the many movements one can do. While there are many ways to train the closing of the hands in grip, extensors tend to get not nearly as much attention.

Grip training as a whole does much for overall strength. Arm wrestlers have good movements in their training to this end, though I also like using IronMind grippers as well; I'm gradually getting to the point where I ought to try the 1.5 soon, 160lbs
 
Lords Greatsword said:
Rice training is excellent conditioning for the hands, also allowing for a bit of extensor work from the many movements one can do. While there are many ways to train the closing of the hands in grip, extensors tend to get not nearly as much attention.

Grip training as a whole does much for overall strength. Arm wrestlers have good movements in their training to this end, though I also like using IronMind grippers as well; I'm gradually getting to the point where I ought to try the 1.5 soon, 160lbs
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The reason I’m doing the rice bucket is one, damn it works well, and two, I do Judo and BJJ so I’m grabbing cloth a lot. So, to avoid injuries I should take measures to even out all the little muscles in the forearm and hands.
 
Yeah grip is super underrated. One thing I learned way too late when your not going to push your grip don't mix grip dead lifts helps build grip like whoa.

I use my wife's hex bar for carries and I'm pretty sure I can crush a Mongolians skull now despite being still weak from letting all of me go to shit from my pcl surgery way back.
 
Bassomatic said:
Yeah grip is super underrated. One thing I learned way too late when your not going to push your grip don't mix grip dead lifts helps build grip like whoa.

I use my wife's hex bar for carries and I'm pretty sure I can crush a Mongolians skull now despite being still weak from letting all of me go to shit from my pcl surgery way back.
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Carries are the GOAT.
 
VeteranOfTheRetardWars said:
Carries are the GOAT.
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Agreed.

I know the hex bar isn't best for them, Mrs loves it for deads I got a good price and it's good rehabbing for carries etc. I'll get back to normal ones soon.

Also I often get into a retard manic "i have room let's buy something" mood. But whatever I can afford it got the room why not add a niche piece?

Plus more Mrs basso dead lifts more booty she has.
 
Bassomatic said:
Agreed.

I know the hex bar isn't best for them, Mrs loves it for deads I got a good price and it's good rehabbing for carries etc. I'll get back to normal ones soon.

Also I often get into a retard manic "i have room let's buy something" mood. But whatever I can afford it got the room why not add a niche piece?

Plus more Mrs basso dead lifts more booty she has.
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I love hex bars, if you’re bodybuilding they are unbelievably good for training. And if you’re strength training they can be loaded to fuck and hit a lot of specific movement patterns.
 
Whats the best way to strengthen my forearms? Getting to the point where alot of my back exercises are stopped because of my grip strength/forearm strength. Right now I'm just doing forearm curls on arm day, but is there anything else I could be doing?

Also, is there any disadvantage to using hex bars for deadlifts? Was just gonna post the above but I see some delicious hex bar conversation. I never liked using regular bars for deadlift because I think I'm retarded and it hits my back too hard to the point where its hard to actually feel the leg part of the exercise.
 
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