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

Not necessarily. Machines are a good way to avoid injuring yourself. I lift heavy and used to do 50kg dumbbell shoulder presses...until someone dropped a dumbbell into my hand at the wrong angle and I tore my labrum from 3 o'clock to 7 o'clock and peeled it off the bone. That injury cost me a lot of money in surgery fees and I'll never have the same range of motion again. I also can never go rock climbing or hang off a bar at full extension. If I had been using a seated shoulder press machine, I would never have had that injury.
Interestingly, the two most successful, competitive bodybuilders I knew at that time both used machines and both said it was specifically because they could avoid serious injuries.
Having said that, I still do a lot of free weight training now, but I'm making the point that machines absolutely do have their place and they are great for training safely.
Machines are great if used right. If you're doing 30 reps of tricep pushdowns with god awful form, they're not gonna do shit, just like doing bench press with bouncing it off your chest and pushing your entire body off the floor.

I think most IFBB pros do the basic compounds and then a lot of machine work. Then again, they're juiced to the gills which helps a lot
 
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Machines are great if used right. If you're doing 30 reps of tricep pushdowns with god awful form, they're not gonna do shit, just like doing bench press with bouncing it off your chest and pushing your entire body off the floor.

I think most IFBB pros do the basic compounds and then a lot of machine work. Then again, they're juiced to the gills which helps a lot
Yep, totally agree.
 
Machines are great for a lot of things, particularly for body parts that are harder to fully work with just free weights. An example being a dumbbell fly vs a pec dec or cable fly, you can really get a great contraction on the machines whereas dumbbells are great, but you lose tension because of gravity.
Really, everything in the gym is a tool, and it’s how you use those tools that matter.
 
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Thoughts from the n00b:

Squats are no joke. I'm so sore. Riding my bike helped.

5 pounds is a challenge for some things, not enough for other things. But 10 pounds is too much. I bought four 1.25 plates and two more 2.5 lb plates (I have two bars, and two 2.5 lb plates, because math is hard). That should give me enough for a while.

Endorphins really are real. I always thought that was something skinny people lied about to fatties to get them to waste their money on gyms. I just couldn't figure out why they'd lie like that. I've always tried to just do cardio and it's always been a total snoozefest. No good feelings afterwards, just tired and sweaty. 15 minutes of baby weights and I could barely walk, but holy shit was I feeling good.

Anyway, just wanted to thank y'all for answering my questions. It's appreciated and I think this is going to be the thing for me.
 
Thoughts from the n00b:

Squats are no joke. I'm so sore. Riding my bike helped.

5 pounds is a challenge for some things, not enough for other things. But 10 pounds is too much. I bought four 1.25 plates and two more 2.5 lb plates (I have two bars, and two 2.5 lb plates, because math is hard). That should give me enough for a while.

Endorphins really are real. I always thought that was something skinny people lied about to fatties to get them to waste their money on gyms. I just couldn't figure out why they'd lie like that. I've always tried to just do cardio and it's always been a total snoozefest. No good feelings afterwards, just tired and sweaty. 15 minutes of baby weights and I could barely walk, but holy shit was I feeling good.

Anyway, just wanted to thank y'all for answering my questions. It's appreciated and I think this is going to be the thing for me.
Awesome for you and fist bump!

I want to mean no disrespect you sound new to this. We aren't some elitist jerks. Any real lifter wants you to be best you do. So kill it!!!

Take your time and ask things.

Right now I'm focused on volley ball next month or 2 till Rubgy picks up so any way to boost my jumps? I hate to brag but my serves are fucking savage I want to get better set, and see where I am playing Rugby again.
 
I actually lift about three days a week with a bro-split that works for me.
My main lifts I try to improve are Dumbbell Bench Press, an Incline Machine Press on a machine I really like, Reverse Grip Pulldowns, Deadlifts, and a Row machine that feels nice. I do isolation moves to pre-exhaust, but that's a different topic. Anyways, that's ches/back day.
For shoulders and arms, I really like Spider Curls, Preacher Curls, Tricep Pushdowns, weighted Dips, and Skullcrushers superset with a close grip press. For delts it's Reverse Flies, Side Laterals, and Overhead Press either with a bar or dumbbells.
For legs, I do Squats, Leg Curls, Leg Extensions, Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts, and Hack Squats. I go really crazy on legs, though. I do abs on leg day too, mostly a dropset on a weighted crunch.
I tend to keep volume low, only one working set an exercise to failure or sometimes further if I have a partner to assist with forced reps, added resistance, or iso-holds. I warm up very thoroughly though, and my workouts are always less than an hour.
I do more conditioning work throughout the week, but it's much less intense.
imo at least 80-90% of people would all benefit from some form of this.

Switch out some lifts for movements/machines that *feel good* for you and add or lose volume intensity based on your goals but the bro split or push/pull/legs 3-5 days a week with good variation in movements and 3-5 sets of let's say 8-15 reps focusing on adding either reps or weight every trip in very small increments and you'll be good to go.

I personally prefer high volume vs the one working set to failure but I'm older and work out alone mostly. The process and results are mainly the same. This is the formula.
 
imo at least 80-90% of people would all benefit from some form of this.

Switch out some lifts for movements/machines that *feel good* for you and add or lose volume intensity based on your goals but the bro split or push/pull/legs 3-5 days a week with good variation in movements and 3-5 sets of let's say 8-15 reps focusing on adding either reps or weight every trip in very small increments and you'll be good to go.

I personally prefer high volume vs the one working set to failure but I'm older and work out alone mostly. The process and results are mainly the same. This is the formula.
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Based and Mentzer-pilled
 
I have been semi-consistently doing the Simple and Sinister kettlebell guide. I've noticed less pain in my knees and toes in general, which can only be a good thing. Also the exercises aren't hurting my hamstrings as much. I've started using a 22 pound kettlebell rather than a 15 for one set. I don't say that to brag, because that's still a pathetic number considering the book recommends starting with 35, but I'm pretty sure that would kill me. But a month ago I don't think I would've been able to do a 22 at all, so that's something, question mark? Just trying to stay motivated I guess.
 
Awesome for you and fist bump!

I want to mean no disrespect you sound new to this. We aren't some elitist jerks. Any real lifter wants you to be best you do. So kill it!!!

Take your time and ask things.

Right now I'm focused on volley ball next month or 2 till Rubgy picks up so any way to boost my jumps? I hate to brag but my serves are fucking savage I want to get better set, and see where I am playing Rugby again.
For better jumping it is hard to beat just jumping itself so box jumps and jump rope are good exercises to start with.

Box squats and squatting with chains or bands are also great if you have the equipment. Basically you want to focus on 'explosive' movements rather than slow, high weight, low rep movements.
 
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Is there a resource I can use to see what I should be lifting baseline for my bodyweight?

I started deadlifts this week (yay) and managed 60kg for both that and my rack pulls and up to 80kgs on my hip thrusts, just not sure how to gauge my performance or if there is an average I can compare myself to.
 
Is there a resource I can use to see what I should be lifting baseline for my bodyweight?

I started deadlifts this week (yay) and managed 60kg for both that and my rack pulls and up to 80kgs on my hip thrusts, just not sure how to gauge my performance or if there is an average I can compare myself to.


Based on user input, so don’t take it too seriously. But it should give you a decent idea of what to expect/aim for.
 
Those of you who use protein powder do you have any suggestions for cheap?

I see walmart has a store brand 2lbs for $19 and so far I can't find anything online coming close to ~10/pound. I've been buying from myprotein.com for years but their prices are crazy high now like 20/pound. And even if I get a new 50% off code for them it still puts them right at walmart price without the shipping.
 
I got my 1.25 pound plates this week. They're so little! Awww. Literally baby plates. But they made a difference. I had a tough time completing three sets of ten with the 7.5 lb weights with the one exercise I've done with them so far, whereas with the 5 pounds I had very little trouble doing 3 X 15.

I get my new 2.5 plates tomorrow so I can have two 7.5 barbells. I had two bars and two 2.5 plates because math is hard. Now I'll have four.

I'm definitely not as sore this week doing the same exercises. I like that. It was a good sore, but sore is sore.
 
Those of you who use protein powder do you have any suggestions for cheap?

I see walmart has a store brand 2lbs for $19 and so far I can't find anything online coming close to ~10/pound. I've been buying from myprotein.com for years but their prices are crazy high now like 20/pound. And even if I get a new 50% off code for them it still puts them right at walmart price without the shipping.
All protein has increased in price since 2020, I usually buy those 10 lbs ones and buy in bulk whenever they mail out coupons. Also follow some youtubers that do fitness. They usually do promotions for companies that offer some discounts, though it's usually for less than ideal brands

Pulled my hamstring warming up for squats, the benefits of getting old
 
What do you guys think about ashwagandha for the purposes of bodybuilding? Is it a meme or a good supplement alongside creatine?
 
If machines are a no no how does one go about doing reverse frog pumps with weights?
Machines aren't a no-no, they just aren't as good for you as free weights because the machine controls the weight for you and thus makes it easier. So if you've gotta use a machine to do an exercise, don't feel bad about it. Doing it on a machine is always better than not doing it at all

As for frog pumps... you could use a weighted vest. I've never seen those done with weight but anything is possible
 
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