Blonde will make you STRONG

[iRaise]

Home workouts fine is you're a cardio roffler like me.

Got a cheap exercise bike and a rower off Amazon and they've both been used plenty already.

Hour a day for the time being. Good for keeping some sort of routine and obv for keeping the weight off. And that's not easy after ordering a skip full of Bertie Bassett's finest.

Agreed for cardio based things like that its fine, I still question most peoples consistency and output but much easier to do.

[Ledders]

Whilst not good for absolutes, this is a great period to improve yourself relative to the field.

Most people are going to put their feet up or get bored of home sessions.

Keep battling and make good diet adjustments and you can be much better placed than most in 2 months time.

I say this as someone who has done jackshit this week.

[EvilPie]

My dad has a decent set of weights that he used for years and stopped using recently so I'll look at them if needs be. He has a bench and rack but I believe it's a makeshift one so might not be suitable but I'll see.

I reckon I could get a decent full body workout with 100kg at my disposal and I'm pretty sure there's a bit more than that.

Bench, OHP, BoR, DL and squats all very easy if I have access to a rack. Accessories obviously no problem with a set of dumbbells.

Can easily view it as a deload period and just maintain for a few weeks with an hour 3 or 4 times per week.

Been to my dads today for a look at his weights. He has 2 x 20kg plates and 12 x 10kg plus a load of smaller ones so more than enough for me.

He has a battered old bench but it's a good quality one probably better than something I could pay £70 for from Argos

Also got an EZ bar so I'm good for curls and a home made squat rack that I'm not sure yet if I can get rigged up.

Going to set it all up tomorrow and first home gym session after work.

[vegaslover]

My dad has a decent set of weights that he used for years and stopped using recently so I'll look at them if needs be. He has a bench and rack but I believe it's a makeshift one so might not be suitable but I'll see.

I reckon I could get a decent full body workout with 100kg at my disposal and I'm pretty sure there's a bit more than that.

Bench, OHP, BoR, DL and squats all very easy if I have access to a rack. Accessories obviously no problem with a set of dumbbells.

Can easily view it as a deload period and just maintain for a few weeks with an hour 3 or 4 times per week.

Been to my dads today for a look at his weights. He has 2 x 20kg plates and 12 x 10kg plus a load of smaller ones so more than enough for me.

He has a battered old bench but it's a good quality one probably better than something I could pay £70 for from Argos

Also got an EZ bar so I'm good for curls and a home made squat rack that I'm not sure yet if I can get rigged up.

Going to set it all up tomorrow and first home gym session after work.

Did you get it set up??

[arbboy]

Gutted at missing the gym but have decided to go all out cardio now and doing 6 mile power walk (around 5mph) around a country lane circuit which is quiet and isolated.   First attempt yesterday was 80 minutes.  Hoping i can get it down to sub 75 mins in a couple of weeks.  I am too heavy to even consider adding jogging/running into it.   My feet were sore yesterday after a first attempt just walking. 

[EvilPie]

My dad has a decent set of weights that he used for years and stopped using recently so I'll look at them if needs be. He has a bench and rack but I believe it's a makeshift one so might not be suitable but I'll see.

I reckon I could get a decent full body workout with 100kg at my disposal and I'm pretty sure there's a bit more than that.

Bench, OHP, BoR, DL and squats all very easy if I have access to a rack. Accessories obviously no problem with a set of dumbbells.

Can easily view it as a deload period and just maintain for a few weeks with an hour 3 or 4 times per week.

Been to my dads today for a look at his weights. He has 2 x 20kg plates and 12 x 10kg plus a load of smaller ones so more than enough for me.

He has a battered old bench but it's a good quality one probably better than something I could pay £70 for from Argos

Also got an EZ bar so I'm good for curls and a home made squat rack that I'm not sure yet if I can get rigged up.

Going to set it all up tomorrow and first home gym session after work.

Did you get it set up??

Not yet but to be honest taking it out of my dad's garage and putting it in my car then out the car and in to my garage was a workout in itself!!

Suspension was pretty much bottomed out

The bench isn't as battered as I thought but Jesus it's heavy!! It's fully adjustable from flat to 90 degrees so loads of scope for doing stuff. It's better than anything they have at my gym but it's definitely more suited to being stationary.

It's all been a bit mental at work so I've been happy enough having a little break but will definitely get set up soon. Need to decide what to do but other than bench, squats and OHP I'm not really restricted at all.

Easy enough to substitute DB press, DB split squats and DB press for those three just to keep my eye in.

[EvilPie]

Finally got the home gym set up today and had a really good session.

The dumbbells aren't fixed which makes DB bench pretty tough. I can't put them on my knees like I would with fixed dumbbells so had to stick to quite light weight. 33kg was manageable but any more would've been getting dangerous so I'll just have to stick at that and get some volume in. Note that 33kg is an estimate, I had 2 x 10kg plates, 2 x 10lb plates and then the bar itself + collars makes about 33kg or so.

I managed 4 sets of up to 14 reps so I'll just have to stick to volume on those I think.

To be honest half way through the session I'd already decided that a hypertrophy block is the way forward. Might diet down and see if I can get ripped just in case there's a chance of a beach holiday at the end of summer.

Full routine was:

Bent over row 4 sets up to 70kg for 6.
DB bench 33kg 4 x 11-14
EZ bar Pullovers 25kg SS bicep curl - 4 sets to failure
Arnold press 12kg SS EZ bar tricep extension 16kg 4 sets all to failure
Side lateral raises very light all to failure

I'm going to stick to the light stuff for safety and just do everything to failure. Won't be doing any heavy deadlifts as I don't want to drop the heavy bar on my garage floor so I'll find an alternative.

All in all very happy with day one and glad to finally get back to doing something after 10 days off.

Anyone else managing to get anything done?

[arbboy]

How long do you think it will be before gyms are allowed to open again?  Sounds like it could easily be months from the press conference today.  Surely there must be some privately owned spit and sawdust gyms still unofficiaally opening for the roiders and bouncers of this world to get their fix?

I have zero access to any weights so i am in full on cardio mode and doing a 5/6 mile a day power walk every day.   Calories should be substantially reduced over the lockdown because i can't drink outside of the house (which i do very rarely - drink in the house that is!), i won't be consuming my double promax shake and orange juiice with it every day and i won't be able to eat out and eat much bad food.   The combination of all of those things should mean i will have a nice surprise next time i step on the electronic scanning scales at pure gym without having to do a great deal else.   Worried about losing the strength gains i have made but there really is nothing you can do about it.

The lockdown hasn't really made a great deal of difference to my life tbh compared to most.  I have worked from home for 15 years and totally used to it.  The only big issue is the lack of a training routine weights wise which i really got back into.   Fingers crossed it wiill be a 1-2 month enforced rest period and no more.

[iRaise]

Finally got the home gym set up today and had a really good session.

The dumbbells aren't fixed which makes DB bench pretty tough. I can't put them on my knees like I would with fixed dumbbells so had to stick to quite light weight. 33kg was manageable but any more would've been getting dangerous so I'll just have to stick at that and get some volume in. Note that 33kg is an estimate, I had 2 x 10kg plates, 2 x 10lb plates and then the bar itself + collars makes about 33kg or so.

I managed 4 sets of up to 14 reps so I'll just have to stick to volume on those I think.

To be honest half way through the session I'd already decided that a hypertrophy block is the way forward. Might diet down and see if I can get ripped just in case there's a chance of a beach holiday at the end of summer.

Full routine was:

Bent over row 4 sets up to 70kg for 6.
DB bench 33kg 4 x 11-14
EZ bar Pullovers 25kg SS bicep curl - 4 sets to failure
Arnold press 12kg SS EZ bar tricep extension 16kg 4 sets all to failure
Side lateral raises very light all to failure

I'm going to stick to the light stuff for safety and just do everything to failure. Won't be doing any heavy deadlifts as I don't want to drop the heavy bar on my garage floor so I'll find an alternative.

All in all very happy with day one and glad to finally get back to doing something after 10 days off.

Anyone else managing to get anything done?

Seen worse plans.

[iRaise]

How long do you think it will be before gyms are allowed to open again?  Sounds like it could easily be months from the press conference today.  Surely there must be some privately owned spit and sawdust gyms still unofficiaally opening for the roiders and bouncers of this world to get their fix?

I have zero access to any weights so i am in full on cardio mode and doing a 5/6 mile a day power walk every day.   Calories should be substantially reduced over the lockdown because i can't drink outside of the house (which i do very rarely - drink in the house that is!), i won't be consuming my double promax shake and orange juiice with it every day and i won't be able to eat out and eat much bad food.   The combination of all of those things should mean i will have a nice surprise next time i step on the electronic scanning scales at pure gym without having to do a great deal else.   Worried about losing the strength gains i have made but there really is nothing you can do about it.

The lockdown hasn't really made a great deal of difference to my life tbh compared to most.  I have worked from home for 15 years and totally used to it.  The only big issue is the lack of a training routine weights wise which i really got back into.   Fingers crossed it wiill be a 1-2 month enforced rest period and no more.

I get the feeling its going to be longer than we all though, one of my friends sells gym equipment and he's already hit his yearly target. Safe to say he wants it to run on for as long as possible.

[iRaise]

So far my training has been solely steps. Trying to get in around 10k a day which seems to be harder than I thought when you dont do anything else. Have a new found appreciation for the difficulty office workers etc have to try and get them in.

I have some bands, but haven't really used them yet. I will start doing more from this week. My plan is to try and just retain the skill and improve the skill of my movements. Then possibly work on some mobility. I am not too worried how long it lasts, I had to have 3-6 months off after the operation and got back to within a year. Hopefully being a little less brain damaged this time around I can do it in 2-6 months. I think for most within a month they should be 80%+ of the way there. I do want to try and maintain the bodyweight the best I can. Obviously we will all lose some muscle mass, but don't want to go much above 85kg.

I do think its a pretty good time for most people to nail nutrition as they have far less reasons now to not focus on it. I know everyone is going to go 'ah we can't exercise anymore we will all gain weight' I genuinely think it's the perfect time for most people to lose a lot of weight. They can cook from home, record and track and no exactly what is going in their food. Annoyingly I dont think anyone will, but I will keep trying to get the message out there on my own channels/circles.

For anyone reading this now that wants some direction for christ sake ask and don't let the opportunity go to waste!!

[the sicilian]

From a purely training point of view all this couldnt have come at a worse time ( never a good time I suppose loool ) was ramping up the intensity as I moved towards June..was getting really strong and fit.. now i have no idea the next time im going to pull a bar bell.

I have a couple 15kg DB's a 9kg wall ball and a skipping rope.. ordered some proper matting for the garage just before it all went down so i can get by.. lots of body weight stuff and my pet hate..running... got a nice little circuit by me about 1.8 mile..its not a huge distance but im no runner but 2nd time out already knocked off a minute and a half so hopefully bring that down and then extend the distance..

Even with work from home boredom and non motivation setting in...

Lets hope all this is done sooner than later

[EvilPie]

Did my first lower body session tonight which was really tough.

I'm avoiding anything heavy and trying to work on weak points which inevitably uses different exercises to those I'm normally used to.

I'm very weak in the glutes so I want to work those quite a lot, also my quads aren't great so it's a great opportunity to give them a bit of a shock.

Glute bridges - 30kg - Not too tough but focused on form and really felt them working. Was getting up to 14 reps before stopping but wasn't failure. Will try to slowly up the weight on these.
Barbell split squats - 30kg - So tough, I could only manage 6 reps each side so these need work.
RDL - 50kg - Quite a lot lighter than I normally go but I did them really slowly trying to focus on glutes and ham strings.

Had to leave it there to walk the dog, walk my mum and get to Lidl..... Busy times....

I think I can handle a few weeks of an upper/lower split probably doing 2 days on 1 day off, maybe throw in some abs on the off day.....

All good so far and feeling positive that this could actually be good for my training overall.

[arbboy]

you seen this press up challenge someone is doing online matt?  2400 prress ups in 12 hours.  Reckon you would piss that.  Their strategy is doing set of 6 every two minutes non stop.   Any thoughts as a press up challenge pro of the past?  Fortunes have been bet on it supposedly.

[EvilPie]

you seen this press up challenge someone is doing online matt?  2400 prress ups in 12 hours.  Reckon you would piss that.  Their strategy is doing set of 6 every two minutes non stop.   Any thoughts as a press up challenge pro of the past?  Fortunes have been bet on it supposedly.

I haven't seen that anywhere no. Trying to decide how difficult it would be and I'm really struggling to wrap my head around it.

If we forget the mental side of doing this and focus purely on the physical aspect it's just finding the optimal quantity to hit at that regular interval I suppose.

I can do 120 pretty easily in about 15 minutes whilst I'm making myself some food so that's 30 every 5 minutes..... To get 2400 completed in 12 hours would mean doing that every 9 minutes.....

That's pretty fucking tough I have to be honest but maybe feasible.

I do 30 because 25 is a bit too easy so maybe that would be a better number for me and stick with the 5 minute intervals....

0 - 25
5 - 50
10 - 75
15 - 100
rest
30 - 125
35 - 150
40 - 175
45 - 200
rest
.
.
.
I reckon I could sustain that for a while but 12 hours!?!?!?!?