Gym & Misc Your starting lifts

[DemonTim]

Started about 3 years ago now. Was 135kg and had a few terrible trainers in that time. I remember struggling to bench the 20kg bar, and even lacking confidence to do it with a spot. Squatting was about 40-50kgs, and never used to deadlift.
Now am sitting around 90kg bench for 6-8. 115kg squat for the same, and about the same for deadlifts.
I remember using the 10kg DB for bench press at a time, crazy looking back then.

 

[estibador]

If you want to talk more about this stuff DM me, we are quite off topic here and I'm sure everyone else is getting a bit jack of it.

Far from it - it's made this thread a much more interesting read than I was expecting.

 

[Jimmybob]

Nah they were unrelated, I've had hip impingement issues for about 5 years now (genetic but exaggerated by playing basketball for 20 years)

The L5S1 has never fully improved although I don't suffer any more nerve issues so I'm back lifting but I'll probably never go down the powerlifting route since my body will just break.

1 1/2 years later. Still lifting and still without pain? Surprised you'd even risk lifting a weight after a prolapse at l5s1. One too many kgs and that prolapsed disc will impinge on your nerve again

 

[Wojcinski]

1 1/2 years later. Still lifting and still without pain? Surprised you'd even risk lifting a weight after a prolapse at l5s1. One too many kgs and that prolapsed disc will impinge on your nerve again

I'm actually not lifting at the moment because I'm a few weeks into a backpacking trip lol, but up until a month ago I was. I do rack pulls instead of dead lifts and leg press instead of squats. I haven't had any further back issues but did have a fluroscopy on one of my hips which did nothing.

I'll never do any huge powerlifting type stuff again though. Too risky.

 

[Jimmybob]

I'm actually not lifting at the moment because I'm a few weeks into a backpacking trip lol, but up until a month ago I was. I do rack pulls instead of dead lifts and leg press instead of squats. I haven't had any further back issues but did have a fluroscopy on one of my hips which did nothing.

I'll never do any huge powerlifting type stuff again though. Too risky.

Good to hear you dropped those two, they're no good for the back! Is it a dodgy si joint when you say hip? I've had a microdiscectomy on l5s1, and now it's my left si joint that causes pain each day. No chance of me ever lifting again and I'm 25 lol

 

[Wojcinski]

Good to hear you dropped those two, they're no good for the back! Is it a dodgy si joint when you say hip? I've had a microdiscectomy on l5s1, and now it's my left si joint that causes pain each day. No chance of me ever lifting again and I'm 25 lol

Mine was a condition called FAI - Femoroacetabular Impingement

 

[JG22]

Starting bench 40kg 1 rep max at a stretch

 

[Aeglos]

1 1/2 years later. Still lifting and still without pain? Surprised you'd even risk lifting a weight after a prolapse at l5s1. One too many kgs and that prolapsed disc will impinge on your nerve again

There have been plenty of people who have suffered similar injuries and can lift fine (myself included).
Brian Carrol l was able to come back from this injury and squat >450kg
"medical imaging findings: massive sacrum superior end plate fracture, crushed L5 vertebral body, flattened L4/L5 and L5/S1 discs with broad based posterior bulges. edema in vertebral bodies adjacent these discs"
https://www.rdellatraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/BrianMRI.jpg

Mine was a condition called FAI - Femoroacetabular Impingement

Being nitpicky but FAI as a diagnosis is a bit of a copout as it's a symptom of another condition (of which there are a few that can cause it eg labral tear).
Might as well have been diagnosed with "anterior hip pain" lol

 

[Jimmybob]

There have been plenty of people who have suffered similar injuries and can lift fine (myself included).
Brian Carrol l was able to come back from this injury and squat >450kg
"medical imaging findings: massive sacrum superior end plate fracture, crushed L5 vertebral body, flattened L4/L5 and L5/S1 discs with broad based posterior bulges. edema in vertebral bodies adjacent these discs"
https://www.rdellatraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/BrianMRI.jpg


Being nitpicky but FAI as a diagnosis is a bit of a copout as it's a symptom of another condition (of which there are a few that can cause it eg labral tear).
Might as well have been diagnosed with "anterior hip pain" lol

Forgot to mention I have degenerative disc disease. And the fact that I've had surgery is a bit different to someone that hasn't because they've only had a bulge which usually has a good chance of healing on it's own within 6 weeks.

I don't think Brian ever went under the knife for his injury as his disc was bulged, not prolapsed. I think the main difference is that after an operation, the disc forms scar tissue which in turn gives a higher chance of bulge or worse a reherniation/prolapse.

 

[Wojcinski]

There have been plenty of people who have suffered similar injuries and can lift fine (myself included).
Brian Carrol l was able to come back from this injury and squat >450kg
"medical imaging findings: massive sacrum superior end plate fracture, crushed L5 vertebral body, flattened L4/L5 and L5/S1 discs with broad based posterior bulges. edema in vertebral bodies adjacent these discs"
https://www.rdellatraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/BrianMRI.jpg


Being nitpicky but FAI as a diagnosis is a bit of a copout as it's a symptom of another condition (of which there are a few that can cause it eg labral tear).
Might as well have been diagnosed with "anterior hip pain" lol

I can only go by what I'm told as I'm not a doctor. I've had surgery to remove ganz bumps and infringing bone on both hips although they're both still s**t

 

[Aeglos]

Forgot to mention I have degenerative disc disease. And the fact that I've had surgery is a bit different to someone that hasn't because they've only had a bulge which usually has a good chance of healing on it's own within 6 weeks.

I don't think Brian ever went under the knife for his injury as his disc was bulged, not prolapsed. I think the main difference is that after an operation, the disc forms scar tissue which in turn gives a higher chance of bulge or worse a reherniation/prolapse.

The term degenerative disc disease is a bit misleading as it’s neither degenerative nor a disease. The second you are born you begin to experience “degeneration” of the discs. Whether it becomes symptomatic is merely down to the equation of whether repair > breakdown and is influenced by a whole host of factors (mechanical loading, disc hydration, overhealth physical health, mental health etc).
Even extrusions and sequestrians (where the disc ruptures and the fluid spills out have high rates (70% and 96% respectively) have high rates of regression without surgical intervention.

Bulge, herniation and prolapse are all fairly interchangeable terms and the line (if any) between the 3 is blurred (though it does depend on the source). It’s only if you have an extrusion or sequestrian that the classification becomes more black and white.
You’re correct that areas with scar tissue are more likely to get reinjured but the some applies to everywhere on the body (think hamstring tear, from large cuts etc) but it’s hardly cause for someone to give up an activity that they enjoy, and encouraging people to be as active and “use their backs” is currently the best advice medical professionals can give to people suffering from back pain short of them having a vertebral fracture or cauda equina.

Disc damage in itself is a poor indicator of pain or neurological symptoms as well; last time I had an MRI it showed the L5 disc pressing on the nerves on the right yet all my symptoms were in my left leg and as it turned out were muscular in nature (current evidence suggests it’s the chemical inflammation that causes discogenic pain rather than the disc pressing on the nerve; which makes sense otherwise we’d get sciatica every time we sat down).
In non-symptomatic, pain free, people aged in their 20s something like 30% show significant disc damage. In other words; a disc injury doesn’t mean pain and pain doesn’t mean disc injury.

 

[Aeglos]

I can only go by what I'm told as I'm not a doctor. I've had surgery to remove ganz bumps and infringing bone on both hips although they're both still s**t

Unfortunately the prognosis from surgical intervention for FAI isn’t fantastic.
We had a guy come through our clinic who had similar surgery to you on both hips.
He had symptom reduction for a short while but it gradually came on again.
He had been getting a lot of massage but the effects were very short lived (2-3 days tops) and it wasn’t until we got him doing his own range of motion drills as well as isolated hip strengthening exercises as well as educating and encouraging him to let his body move the way that felt natural that the pain (slowly) subsided.
His goal was to get back to playing football (which he did ~month ago) but I doubt his hip structure would ever allow him to do deep squats.

 

[Wojcinski]

Unfortunately the prognosis from surgical intervention for FAI isn’t fantastic.
We had a guy come through our clinic who had similar surgery to you on both hips.
He had symptom reduction for a short while but it gradually came on again.
He had been getting a lot of massage but the effects were very short lived (2-3 days tops) and it wasn’t until we got him doing his own range of motion drills as well as isolated hip strengthening exercises as well as educating and encouraging him to let his body move the way that felt natural that the pain (slowly) subsided.
His goal was to get back to playing football (which he did ~month ago) but I doubt his hip structure would ever allow him to do deep squats.

Same here, I still play basketball but have limited lateral movement so I'm a terrible defender lol

 

[Paul Kersey]

21 y/old @ 66kg ish. Can't remember just getting 5x5 with an empty bar on bench, think I managed a plate squat/deadlift first crack for a double or triple.
by 26 y/old I'd gotten to 88kg ish with a 230kg squat, 127.5kg bench and 240kg deadlift before blowing my back out.
year later I'm about 81kg with a 235kg squat and 137.5kg bench, dead is still 240kg and seems to have suffered the most from the back injury

How tall are you? That squat in sleeves?

 

[Aeglos]

How tall are you? That squat in sleeves?

I’m around 177-178cm.
It was done with GPC so low bar, wraps, mono etc
I’m not sure what I’d do IPF style with a walk out etc around the 200 mark maybe?
My lifts are terrible atm anyway - think the lack of sleep, a few footy/skating injuries and the stress of uni have taken their toll. I missed a 205kg deadlift from my knees on Saturday where my PR is 230

 

[Paul Kersey]

I’m around 177-178cm.
It was done with GPC so low bar, wraps, mono etc
I’m not sure what I’d do IPF style with a walk out etc around the 200 mark maybe?
My lifts are terrible atm anyway - think the lack of sleep, a few footy/skating injuries and the stress of uni have taken their toll. I missed a 205kg deadlift from my knees on Saturday where my PR is 230

I am 178cm circa 88kg too. We are both way too tall for this weight in powerlifting, haha.

 

[Aeglos]

I am 178cm circa 88kg too. We are both way too tall for this weight in powerlifting, haha.

Hahahaha yep.
We’d need to be in the 105/110kg class at our height.
Maybe 100s if we were on gear and super lean.

 

[TW Sherrin]

Starting lifting a year ago. Bench 70kg, dead 130kg, squat 120kg.

Now 90kg, 170kg and 140kg. Turning 50yo soon.

Funny the kick you get out of moving something heavy.

 

[Nuggets73]

Cut weight will be around the 94-95kg mark with around 9-10% BF

That’s a fat free mass index score of almost 25.3 .... those are some pretty impressive numbers Nicky!

 

[Wojcinski]

That’s a fat free mass index score of almost 25.3 .... those are some pretty impressive numbers Nicky!

I never made it that low unfortunately, currently 102kg but have been overseas for 8 weeks now so training sporadically and not eating as well as I should be

 

[TW Sherrin]

I'm not sure what sort of warm up you have, but I've solved a bunch of peoples tracking problems by prescribing 2-3 sets of 20 hamstring curls prior to squatting.

Also, the vastus medialis has the same nerve as vastus intermedias and vastus lateralis so they either all fire or none do.
Latest indications suggest patellofemoral friction syndrome is actually to do with femur/hip rotation (or tibial rotation - I'd have to double check)

Last week I did 3 sets of banded hamstring curls prior to squatting. Knees felt good. Did 3 sets of 15 x 100kg.

This week no curls and did 3 sets 12 x 120kg and my knees groaned and creeked the whole time. I'll be on the curl bandwagon next week.

 

[Aeglos]

Last week I did 3 sets of banded hamstring curls prior to squatting. Knees felt good. Did 3 sets of 15 x 100kg.

This week no curls and did 3 sets 12 x 120kg and my knees groaned and creeked the whole time. I'll be on the curl bandwagon next week.

Yup, not sure of the exact mechanisms but the hamstring curls prior to squats seems to work wonders.

 

[go you pups]

These were the days, my fitness goals were pretty different back then, primarily just to improve my sporting performance as I grew from 5"11 to nearly 6"3 throughout year 10 and needed to adjust to my new found larger frame, secondarily for the social element, half the boys from my social circle at the time went after school/work then so was always good to have a yarn with whoever was training and chat up any chicks who we knew who may have been there.

Was just before I turned 16, start of year 11 in 2004 (Late February I think) that I started gym. I was about 191cm and just over 110kg when I started. By the end of that year I was 194cm and 108kg and just starting to get confidence up in my new found physical abilities.

Starting weights

20kg bench on the counterweighted Smith machine (struggled bad and had awful doms after my first few chest exercise days)

80 pound lat pulldowns (35kg), roughly the same for seated rows

110kg leg press

Months after

Leg press came on quickly and got to over 200kg within three months, got to 120-130 pounds on the back stuff about 6 months in (55-60kg).

It took me until the end of the year to do 50kg bench on the counterweighted Smith machine though and nearly all of the next year just to eventually bench two 25kg plates on the 20kg free barbell (during year 12). I went hard on the decline though in year 12 and I found that helped my flat bench. I plateaued eventually at 80kg bench (30 a side) while I continued on playing footy and cricket and did heaps of running as part of my fitness commitments for those sports until I was 20, but once I gave the footy up at 20 I was able to slowly improve my loads over a two year period to regularly bench 100kg 3x8.


These days the goals is just health related, keep my body strong and try and lose my injury kilos (have talked about them here in other threads).

 

[BrockBlitz]

Yup, not sure of the exact mechanisms but the hamstring curls prior to squats seems to work wonders.

Preloading the hamstrings stops the shear forces in the knee.

The hamstrings main role in a squat is to pin your shins to your femur - otherwise your ACL does the work along with your quad and patella tendon. It feels like you’re grinding the patella.

 

[JackoL]

Started April 2018 // at 15 Years Old // 180cm // 70kg
Bench - 40kg
Squat - 40kg
Deadlift - 60kg
Pull Ups: 0
Push Ups: 10

Current: 16 Years Old // 182cm // 81kg
Bench - 90kg
Squat - 130kg
Deadlift - 120kg
Dead hang Pull Ups: 12
Push Ups: 60

My results are still pretty modest but it's a start