Big J

Sorry for the random post quoting Silky Fox - I couldn't post anything on that thread apart from that. Odd little glitch. I found much the same VI - when I was doing regular forestry work my back was generally fine. That range of movement is key. More photos from that time:

I just can't lift well in the mornings. It takes at least 6 hours from getting up for my lower back to work properly. It always has. After 6 hours I can squat effectively without lower back instability and weakness being an issue. It's so funny being in a commercial gym after all these years. We used to have a little industrial unit and a spit and sawdust strongman gym about 10 years ago, so a shiny warm gym with treadmills and machines is very alien. This was our old gym: There are a few main mistakes people seem to make in the gym: * The main one is not train legs. Considering that your legs, glutes and lower back make up way in excess of 50% of your muscle mass, I'd say 90-95% of the training I observe is upper body training. This is especially true with younger guys. They don't seem to realise that the anabolic effect from consistent leg training will cause everything else to grow more quickly. And also that chicken legs don't impress the ladies. * Not enough intensity. A lot of folk barely seem to break a sweat. Doing 10 rep sets when they could easily do 20. Pratting around with the phone between sets. Doing 6 different exercises to hit one muscle group. Going through the motions of lifting won't build muscle. * Too much isolation. I've seen guys come straight in through the gym doors and hit the curls. 8 different ways. They ought to be doing all sorts of upper back work (which hits the biceps) and then do a few sets of curls at the end. * Not eating correctly. I was chatting to one kid a couple of months back (early 20s maybe) who said he hadn't gained weight for a year. He was maybe 60kg and 5ft 8". He didn't train legs, as you would expect, but I think a lot of guys don't realise how much you have to eat. Over the past 12 weeks I've stepped up my calorie intake from 4500, to 5000, to 5500 and it's now nearly 6000kcal a day. That's at 111kg bodyweight, training every other day. It'll have to go up further if I want to keep growing. Other than that, I'd just say have fun. Training hard, with goals helps me progress and keeps me motivated but I know it's not for everyone.

I don't know Stephen. Have you visited a physio for an assessment? I'm up in the Strath second week of February if you wanted me to have a look, one dodgy back sufferer to another! Great session at the gym today. About the 7th squat session now, squatting every 48 hours. At the point now where even the Rehband neoprene support (much softer than a belt) feels unnecessary. I couldn't feel any benefit at all. Legs are constantly aching, but I think they'll adapt to the workload, and squatting every 48 hours will cause rapid general muscle growth. Dumbell bench well up too, to 10's at 38kg per hand.

No smith machine but I never got on with the restricted range of motion. I was always OK with them when I was chunkier, but preferred back squats. Back a bit twingey today, spasming randomly but it's probably due to the cold and driving snow.

It's funny, but my main hate in the gym is ab work so I look at high volume squatting as a good way of avoiding doing specific ab work! I have done front squats in the past, but haven't quite got enough mass on my delts yet for it to be comfortable. I've also got a bit of a funny clavicle where one side sticks up a touch more than the other, so it catches. I'll maybe try it again later on, but I'll just focus on back squats for now. Going to add some paused reps later on too. I'll see how many of the other gym users I can persuade to squat, though I'll maybe wait until my squat isn't so embarrassingly low! DOMS are way better this morning and I managed an unassisted toilet squat. Should be OK to get under the bar again tomorrow!

20 reps for squats seems to have this fearsome reputation. Both admired and feared. Differing approaches from different folk, but I like the brutality of what you suggest. I think I'm a very long way off attempting that at present as I'm returning from injury and need to address core weakness. I used to squat 190kg, but was heavily reliant on a belt. No belt this time around and that's the way it will stay. My whole body is just so out of condition for free weights. 12 weeks in the health club pumping machines was enough to prime the system for getting under a barbell again, but my legs honestly feel like I've never squatted before (from a condition point of view). The form is still right there though. Like I never stopped lifting. Muscle memory is a wonderful thing. I'm planning to do 10 weeks or so with the aforementioned routine, by which point I'm hoping my legs will have got the memo and 20 rep squatting can start in earnest

Looking good Silky! Age is no excuse for not including a bit of supplementary exercise. I just wish I hadn't lost the last 9 years to chronic pain and had gone back to the gym years ago. I've completely disabled my legs today. I'm 4 sessions (4 sessions in 6 days, with 48hrs between each session) back into squatting and loving it. Did 10 doubles with 80kg (low weight, I know) for speed and then a set of 20 with 60kg. Within 15 seconds of completing the set my right quad cramped quite badly and I was unable to do any more leg work. I hobbled around the rest of my routine, and not even getting out of the chair is quite a challenge. The worst DOMS I've ever had (and I used to train hard, so have suffered in the past)! So, do 20 rep squats folks! Supposedly unparalleled for leg development, and the high volume squatting is really hitting my core too. Daft this is that out of about 100 other people I've seen lifting in the gym this last week, I've only seen 2 other people squatting. Why does the average lifting neglect their legs?

Vespasian, that is Donald Trump's logic, and it's fundamentally flawed. Any one of a thousand peer reviewed studies will tell you that regular exercise with (on average) increase the length of your life. If you're looking at it from the point of view of heart beats, then consider elite cyclists. True, they train very hard for long periods of time, with their heartrate reaching 200 BPM, but on the flip side, their resting heart rate is 30-40 BPM, meaning that per week, their heart beats far less often. Beyond that, consider my situation. I was in constant pain 12 weeks ago, having been in constant pain for nearly 10 years. I'm now in virtually no pain. It's incredible. I'd rather live a shorter pain free life, if that's the cost.

I decided to start on day 3 as my legs and core were still really sore from squatting two days ago. It takes a special kind of nut bar to squat two days after squatting for the first time in 9 years. Funny thing is that after about 3 sets my legs were just fine. Kept it light, did form work, then volume leg pressing after and I feel great. Out of 30 odd folk in the gym, I was the only one squatting. Why is that always the case?! Onwards and upwards, feeling great. Pain free after just 12 weeks of lifting after nearly 10 years of constant pain is amazing.

I was thinking that, but didn't want to be too negative. I always think a good rule of thumb is that if you can walk across a roof without paying particular attention to where you are standing, it's strong enough. If not, it's not.

I was on the phone to a potential customer who had two wood burners, one of which could take 20 inch logs. Even with that, he still didn't want more than 3 cube at a time. He was twenty miles away, my trailer takes 7 cube and he just wanted three. It's just not worth it. My single best firewood customer is an old friend who in the time I've known him has built a very successful business. He burns about 40 cubic metres a year, which I process into crates and one of his lackeys comes to collect it as required. I never touch the firewood (ie, I don't help with loading) and he pays in advance. If only I had 10 more customers like that!

I couldn't ever recommend that anyone builds or buys a store that they can't walk into. If you have to bend down, your back will regret it. The store I've got that's pictured above has a volume of 22 cubic metres and we get through it very almost twice in a calendar year. Using that volume of firewood and having to stoop would kill me!

Fair enough. You might get a bit more warmth in summer in Wales, but I'd still be worried about damp. Up here near Edinburgh, the climate is sufficiently miserable that everything goes mouldy unless it's got good airflow. I work on a fairly short rotation with logs stacked outside in rows for 6-12 months and then in the store for 3-9 months, so I have to speed up the process as much as possible. I only burn softwood now, which does help.

It's a nice store Plwm, but I think you might struggle for air flow. The tightly stacked wood isn't a good start, and the closely fixed cladding means slow drying. I like the combination of a large overhang and wide spaced cladding. The overhang catches most of the rain but the wide spaced cladding (4 inch in the case of my store, though 3 inch is more suitable for normal size logs) allows huge air flow. I also always loose fill as I believe it allows better air movement. My store:

Certainly something I want to build up to. I'm able to do about 7, but that's one set. The next set is always less. I've got more back work in the routine than pressing, with the idea that I'll build the strength and mass up there. Hoping that a strong back is enough to prevent any more pain. 5x10 at your bodyweight and height is superb. I'm not naturally a big guy (though I did get to 131kg last time I lifted) and have arms like an urangutan. Good for lifting atlas stones, but crap for chins!

It just feels great to be under a bar squatting again. It's been a long time. I'm hoping to structure my lifting a little bit more now that I'm at a gym with proper equipment. I will continue doing legs on each session as I believe that the lower body focus of my lifting is what has fixed my back. I go to the gym every other day and would probably break the program down into something like this: Day 1: Squat: speed work. 10x2 Leg Press (volume - at least 5x10) Trap bar deadlift Flat barbell bench: speed work/lower reps Horizontal row Bent over dumbell row Tricep push down Abs Day 2: Squat: Volume. 5x8 Leg extension. Back extension machine. Leg curl Barbell seated shoulder press (sets of 8) Hang cleans Lat pulldown (I can do pullups, but at 110kg and 6ft 8", I'm not in the kind of rep range for optimal work - 90kg on lat pulldown is a good working weight) Curls Abs Day 3: Squat: Technique work. 5 rep range, relatively light. 5 sets or so. Leg press (volume) Dumbell bench press: 5x10 Bent over barbell row Rear delt fly (rehab really) Tricep work Abs Day 4: Squat: Heavier singles/doubles/triples. Not to max, but 5-8 sets of low rep, higher weight work. Barbell Deadlift: Light, speed work. Nothing heavy. Focusing on form and explosive power. Dumbell shoulder press: 5x10 Lat pulldown, wide grip Bicep curls Multiple ab exercises. I don't think that I'm missing anything there. Please feel free to critique though as it's been a while since I last did a routine. The focus is basically on lower back and leg rehab, coupled with overall gains in strength and hypertrophy. I'm at 109kg presently, and would like to bulk up to 122kg or so, then cut back to 115kg and maintain. It's going to be hard to resist the urge to keep bulking, but it's not healthy in the long term.

12 weeks back into lifting after 9 years off and having a blast. I've more of less completely eliminated my leg and back pain (something for which I've had all manner of treatment, including surgery, physiotherapy and very strong pain killers) which has given me a quality of life I didn't think I'd ever get again. From a lifting point of view, progress has been quite rapid due to the fact that regaining strength and size is quicker than gaining it the first time around. Up nearly 10kg from 12 weeks ago and I'm progressing with my lifts each week. I'm also surprising myself with what I can do. I genuinely didn't think I'd be able to squat due to leg pain. Yesterday, I spent 25 minutes squatting, which felt great. I practiced technique, mostly stayed light but went up with singles up to 90kg (which felt very easy, but having not had a bar on my back for nearly a decade, I thought it best to stop there). Trap bar deadlift is also something I'm going to do regularly. When I lifted in my younger days, I went up to 260kg on deads, but my form was always pants. The trap bar allows much better leg involvement and I can keep my legs straight. 5x115kg was easy enough but everything aches profusely this morning! Anyway, as I said in the other thread about back pain in which I talked about weightlifting, don't see it as something that inevitably ends up with you muscle bound and a beefcake. It's just a good part of keeping you fit and well and strong in later life. You'll only get big if you eat accordingly. Stretching has it's place, but is no substitute. Throughout my adult life I've been able to place my palms flat on the floor (not just touch my toes) and I've had chronic and debilitating back pain for most of it.

Sent you an email Steve

Donald Trump. He's clearly no politician, and his reality TV fame means he quite squarely fits the bill as a 'celebrity'. I don't think that I really need to explain my reasons for hating him, beyond that he is most certainly the single worst leader of any western country that I can think of in recent history. The man is a hypocrite, a misogynist, a liar, arrogant, ignorant, vain, self absorbed, incompetent, stupid, dangerous and has possibly the worst tan/hair job in living memory! He's spent nearly 1/3 of his presidency in properties that he owns (Mar-a-lago being the main one), where he stays free but he charges everyone else. And he had the balls to accuse Obama of always being on holiday! Arghh!

It's all well and good saying just sue the person that crashed into you because they didn't have suitable tyres on. What if you're left with life changing injuries? What if you are killed? Your argument is poor. I care very much if people are skidding all over the place in wintery conditions because not only do they run the risk of hitting me, but the general inability to safely get from point a to point b means that the road infrastructure grinds to a halt even with with a minute amount of snow or ice. The reason I care about whether or not people have season suitable tyres is the same reason that I care that people have brakes that work, steering that works and the general upkeep of their vehicles. It's the same reason I care that they have licences and are able to adequately control their vehicles. It's simply a case of road safety.

If we all relied on people's common sense, then we would get no where. Seatbelts are a good example. A restraint for stopping a person flying through the windscreen is clearly sensible, but it had to be enshrined in law for universal adoption to occur.

You do make a good point. My brother is in Exeter so I know how warmer it is. I am happy to take suggestions on how to present a more sensibly worded petition. We're mild compared to much of Scotland and indeed much of central England and Wales. We've had 44 frosts so far this winter.

Conclusive verdict on winter tyres from Auto Express:

Definitely just you! Average temperature so far this month has been 1.7 celcius here near Edinburgh. It's minus 6 outside presently too!