Balancing My Home Gym Routine

[No Crust Racing]

See above, by then I'll have ze rack of doom.

[Dani Boi]

So exactly what are your goals?

[No Crust Racing]

From the admittedly long winded first post.

I will point out I am only interested in making sure I have a balanced routine and am pretty happy at the current weight/size - though I expect I'll gain another kg or 2 in the next few months as my leg work comes up to scratch (and that's OK) and I will add a little weight to my curls when I can manage it

Just general fitness and a little strength work as I sit all day and don't have a physical job, if I did nothing I'd be even skinnier and almost useless working on the car.

Admittedly I don't mind having a little bit of shape to me to look half decent. I'm also almot 30 so some of it is just keeping older age at bay.

[Dani Boi]

Don't need to do squats or deadlifts then...

[No Crust Racing]

I'd have thought they'd both be good for my back and as I don't do any back work, and sit all day, that's not a bad thing. The only other leg work I'd be getting would be the running/walking I do which is low intensity.

I'm happy to keep some leg/back stuff in there for balance.

[Dani Boi]

Yes deadlift is a great exercise and awesome for building strength and size but is it necessary for someone with your goals? No. Also because you're not going to be building any serious size on your upper body you could get away with just doing running or something like that. But if you want to do squats that is fine but again is it necessary for someone with your goals? No.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Dani Boi

[No Crust Racing]

That's OK with me, technically I don't need to do 'anything' really so all of it is by choice and I'm happy to keep some leg and back work in there with a thought to balance as I mentioned.

[KezR33]

Don't need to do squats or deadlifts then...

If his goal is general fitness, why would he NOT do squats and deadlifts? I can't think of anything better.

[No Crust Racing]

Update to this.

If I'm ever going to do a big change up I do it Fridays as I have the weekend to recover so tonight I just had a bit of a little mix up on the normal routine. Started playing with 3x 10 reps tonight and weighed everything properly also - Ezy bar is only 5kg it seems and all weights include bar weight.

Dropped bench to 3x 10 reps and chucked on a few extra KGs as I was confident I would be OK with that, completed @ 65kg, feel I could add another 5 pretty easily and then I'd be in "building" territory for my current strength.

Did crunches as per usual

Dropped Ezy Bar curls to 3x 10 reps at 30kg and completed this, Elbow wasn't stoked but held up OK, wouldn't be able to add a huge amount to this before not making the full 3 sets so not far from building territory on that one.

Dropped Ezy bar squat to 3x 10 reps and added a few kgs, completed at 42kg and again feel that the legs can take more but cleaning it up and over the shoulders is the harder part.

Did scissors as per usual

Did cheater spa dips as per usual

Had a go at straight leg dead lift, did 3x 10 reps at a just 25kg and completed that. Felt VERY awkward doing this motion an am reasonably confident the form is probably not crash hot as I'm trying to work out where to put my legs, shoulders, hips etc Anything that involves bending over like that I find a little awkward as my legs aren't very flexible.

Had a shoulder press with the same 25kg, did 3x 10 and noticed that this is difficult exercise. Not sure the Ezy Bar is suitable for that one yet, still working out grip position etc. when I watched the YouTube clip they seem to be able to touch the backs of there hands to their shoulders, in a much narrower grip than IK could manage, I had to go wider or else my left elbow screamed at me.

Had a go at pendlay/barbell rows with the same 25kg ezy bar, completed but again very awkward.

Could definitely feel the different loads on my back/shoulders in those movements.

[KezR33]

If curls are hurting just don't do them.

As for SLDLs and bent over rows, just make sure lower back is straight and your head is up. Also you can bend your knees slightly if you like, I'm pretty inflexible too and find it helps.

[No Crust Racing]

Yeah watched a few clips that said longer legged or less flexible guys can/mayneed to bend knees to clear shins which I need to do.

Feel surprisingly good today, elbow isn't too sore and back feels alright so that's good news.

Gotta at least have some arm work in their Kez otherwise I'll end up looking like I just have tits.

[KezR33]

Nah you won't. I've never done curls and if anything my arms have made the most noticiable gains. Remember they're used in all pulling and pushing motions.

[No Crust Racing]

Your arms must have been skinnier than mine and given your starting weight I'd think that's probably understandable.

If the elbow is happy to continue they will stay. Mind you, when I get a rack (had a look last night, might have to go outside yet...) then chin ups might replace them as I used to LOVE chin ups.

[TTT]

Dan - SLDL is kinda oddly named.

your legs are stiff, but not locked out at the knee if that makes sense.

best way I try to describe it (in words instead of showing) is...

feet LESS THAN shoulder width apart.

Hands on the bar so they are just outside your legs.

in a standing position, unlock the knees so you have a tiny bend in the leg. At this point, this is where the legs stay stiff.

Your back should be arched (picture sticking your arse out and chest out at the same time)

from there, you bend forward and arse goes back a little as you lower the bar down to about shin level (if you are doing it right, it will feel like your shorts are slipping down your arse.

and you will feel the stretch at your hammies..

since you are a desk jockey, you will have very little felxibility in the hammies and butt.

and when doing it right, you will not be able to lower the bar to the floor.

Do it slow and steady.

keep the bar close or against the shins.

Dani Boi - he wants a "balanced" routine.

saying he doesn't need to do Squats and/or deadlifts is stupid.

Squats, bench, deadlift, OH press, chins and curls (if you want) is pretty much perfectly balanced.

Keep at it Dan.

The Pendlay Rows are also an odd feeling to start with.

But keep at it.

[No Crust Racing]

How you've described it is how I felt doing it so that's good and I didn't pull up with a sore back so that's encouraging, that said it was very low weight which I always do when starting something new.

[No Crust Racing]

Quick update.

After 2 weekends in a row of spending countless hours cutting, buffing and polishing the cars (missus got a new rig recently that had spent a lot of time being cleaned with a bloody car wash brush i think, yuck) my shoulders have been wrecked so I had avoided the shoulder press exercise as it was killing me, I still have a twinge in the left shoulder.

Anyway, had a fiddle with a few numbers as some things felt more natural etc, small update but an update none the less.

Upped Bench to 3x 10 @ 70kg, Completing this but actually having to have a decent go to get the last few reps of the third set, so I'd say I'm now into where I'd be building the chest if I went much further, I'll sit here for a bit until some other things catch up a touch.

Crunches as per usual

Upped Ezy Bar curls to 3x 10 @ 32kg, completing this but as above last few reps on the third set I'm having to work for, sitting at this weight for a bit while Elbow becomes comfy there.

Upped Ezy bar squat to 3x10 reps @ approx 44.x kg, legs are quite happy with that but it's the cleaning motion needed to get it up and over and then back off that's the hard part (yeah i know i need a rack). Plus with my left shoulder being so sore of late it's been hard to do this smoothly, worked out I can at least "bounce" the bar off my sholders to remove it more easily.

Scissors as per usual

Cheater spa dips as per usual 3x 35 reps.

Have been feeling more comfortable with STDL and had the missus come and spot me to check my back is straight, was happy enough to just try the squat weigh of 44kg+ completing th 3x 10 reps reasonably comfortably, I think shoulder/grip/back strength is more of an issue than legs on this motion, I feel I could add a few more kg's on this one pretty easily and will slowly add weight as I like to only add small amounts at a time then stick to it for a week or two so the rest of the body can adjust (secondary muscles etc). Big difference from the 25kg I started with.

Have skipped shoulder press for the last 2 weeks, had a go at one set last night at 25kg and it felt "ok" but not awesome for the sore shoulder.

Upped Barbell to 3x 10 reps at the Curl weight of 32kg completing this and starting to feel it in the last few reps but not too bad, could go more but again taking it slowly, had missus spot me for back straightness.

Interestingly, I actually feel like my shoulders are already rotating back a bit and the missus confirms I look less "hunched".

And yes, I know my numbers are shit but all in all some good news so far.

Edited January 24, 2012 by ActionDan

[KezR33]

You bench is actually pretty decent. Most guys that train can't do 70kg for 10 x 3.

Maybe try a gym for week and give their racks a go? At the very least it will give you an idea of what you want from your rack. I know a lot of gym offer one week free trial. My mate actually went about 2 months training using only free trials at different gyms.

[KezR33]

Also you should add DECAs to your routine, once every three months should do it.

[No Crust Racing]

Hmm, 70kg is still 30kg off where I used to be but as I said I'd always gone OK on the bench, I'll be happy if I can just get back to benching my body weight as for some stupid reason that always seemed like a good goal to me.

Good idea about the rack testing, I might try and find a quiet Gym and go with a mate who's had a play before, I'm very pro train solo where possible and I'm self concious enough to not really want to be seen in a Gym struggling with really low weight while everyone around me crunches out big numbers.

LOL @ DECA, you know me, it's a social event only for me as the driving component is too small to justify the cost so I try and get to a couple each year when I can afford spending $100 on accommodation and another couple hundred on dinner/drinks/fuel.

I'm gonna have to come soon though to see how huge you are, make sure you wear a tight shirt hot stuff

Forgot to ask, what rest period are other using between sets? Mine varies from 30-60secs depending on the exercise.

Edited January 24, 2012 by ActionDan

[KezR33]

lol I'm not that big yet. The bigger the muscles involved the more rest you need, unless you're purposely fatiguing yourself. Typically squat and deadlift the longest I wait is 2 and half minutes.