Rogue Fitness is a great resource for Oly lifters. The largest selection you're likely to find. I would recommend against buying a needle bearing bar unless you're going with the Eleiko or Ivanko. The bearings on the lesser bars (Pendl*y, Rogue) will eventually accumulate grit, chalk and dust. They are not terribly user-serviceable, so oiling will simply attract more crap. Just buy a bushing bar and brush it with a wire brush once in a while to remove the chalk and clean the knurling with some WD-40. It's important to remove the sweat from the bar. Most carbon-steel bars will last just fine with a bit of up-keep. A good bushing bar will have enough spin to accomplish the C&J and snatch. A lot of Oly lifters refuse to use bearing bars as they spin so much that it can open your grip on the second pull. A good (new) bar for starting out is the Cap OB-86 available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cap-Barbell-P...TF8&qid=1395445302&sr=8-1&keywords=cap+1500lb The black oxide will come off, but absolutely the best new bar to be had for $160 shipped. They also have a zinc-coated bar, but it's $90 more. The bar won't have a lot of whip, but will last for years with a few drops of 3 in 1 oil every few months. 28.5mm diameter.
Hopefully I'll get back into it soon and can participate more in this! I'm in the "off" portion of training off and on. I simply don't have the time to do more than 2 days a week. I am looking to start back once classes wrap up in May. I typically do 5 days a week: Mon: Chest Warm up shoulders with rear flys and lateral raises Flat BB bench 20, 12, 8, 5, 5 (changes frequently depending on goal) Incline DB 3-4x8-15 Body weight and weighted Dips (8-20 depending on weight) -I lean forward to focus on lower pecs 1 or 2 various Tricep moves to finish up -close grip bench, Tricep extensions on the cable machine etc Tues: Back Wide grip pull-ups 2-3 sets Close grip cable rows 4 sets of 8-12 Lat pull downs 4x8-12 DB rows 3 sets 20,15,12 Used to do a ton of very heavy dead lift until I broke my L5 vertebrae - now I only do lower back rehab type exercises to keep a strong core. Still not full recovered I don't feel thanks to a few reinjuries. BB curls and cable curls Wed: Shoulders -absolute favorite training day Good solid shoulder warmup similar to my chest day Seated barbell shoulder press 45lbsx20, 95lbsx15, 135x12-15, 185x12, 205x5-8 Lateral raises and front raises between sets on shoulder press then a few dedicated sets after, higher rep focusing on squeezing at the top. Arnold presses or regular DB press seated Rear flys I do a lot of exercises and mainly focus on heavy weight on the BB shoulder press then focus on perfect motion and squeeze on the other exercises to really light up the shoulders. Thurs: Legs- focus on high reps Squats usually 4-5x 15-30 (not very heavy due to back) Leg extensions 4x30 - the last 10 reps or so I try to hold full extension as long as possible. The last rep I shoot for 30 seconds at least with decent weight. Leg curls 4x15-30 Lunges probably 50-75 yards total carrying between 30-50lbs Leg press high reps as usual Fri: Arms and finish up day I hit a little of everything. I put my main focus on tri's and bi's. Also do a lot of close grip, pull-ups to failure, and lateral and front raises. Then call it a week. I do very little cardio to be honest but I'm young and lean for now. I'm working on doing it more though. My endurance suffers because of it, so that is a work in progress. I've ran a few cycles and a couple PH's (SD and one other neither technically a PH though). Diet is the name of the game. I need to get back with it, I'm down 15-20lbs since May '13 due to lack of training and diet for so long.
I'm going to get a Bowflex. I like it that the intensity is light at the beginning of the motion and increases. I always get injured and have to quit for a long time, way less chance of that with the bowflex it seems to me. I've learned that it's the joints, the soft tissues that have to build, not the muscles. If I can focus more on building the joint strength and letting the muscles build slowly I'll be able to stay in the game.
I would advise against it, unless you're living in a condo/apt and need a small footprint or have to worry about noise. A $600-$1,000 rack (BodyCraft F-series) is perfect for the garage. Mr. Heater makes a dual tank portable heater if the garage is not heated. Plus, Summer is just around the corner. $700-$800 for the rack. $160 for the bar (Cap OB-86PB). $200 for iron plates. WalMart should have the bar and plates for "ship to store" for free shipping. My guess is that you're not warming-up adequately. At least half of your sets should be warming up/progressive until you get to maintenance (year or two). Let's say your 1RM squat is 350. Perhaps 2 sets of 12 with 135. A couple sets of 8 with 225, and then two or three working sets at 275. Start light with high reps and decrease reps with "working" sets. Not set in stone, but you will need to warm-up if you're a beginning lifter. By beginning I mean anyone who has taken a lot of time off. The only thing going for Bowflex is the great ROM for a machine. The progressive resistance sucks. You cannot meet strength goals on the thing. You will not achieve the aesthetic on it (if that's a goal). Far too much of the ROM is little to no resistance. I would recommend a TotalGym before the Bowflex. Warm-ups and proper form take care of joint-risk. You're not going to pull a groin muscle when DLing 135. You get the technique down with light stuff and progress when your form is adequate. Otherwise you're out for four months with a groin pull when you could be making gains. You must start slow, regardless of your former experience. Everything I am stating here (other than supps) is common-sense and OPINION based upon my ed background and experience. You've got to start slow. There is no substitute for free weights. A lot of guys don't want the "metcon" so they avoid warming-up. Those are the guys with sticks for legs and no traps. The same guys who take a taxi three blocks to the deli because they don't want to "burn the muscle" The emphasis should be on compound lifts which target the CNS (load the spine). Bars over dumbbells if possible. Everything will improve, with correct proportion. You can do isolation exercises like bi-curls, etc. There is no need to do target the tri other than BW dips. This is not what you must do, but simply my opinion on what most ppl should do to be handle daily physical tasks and for self-defense. Deads Squats Bench Dips Overheads Pull-ups and chin-ups Isolation: Curls (sub for chins) More advanced: C&J Most advanced: Snatch METCON: Thrusters (omfg)
SD the most hepatotoxic steroid I've ever seen, other than maybe Halo. I've always stuck to pharma, but I have a lifting buddy who was hospitalized for nearly two months after 50mg for a six-weeker. Of course the dose was insane. He was on a transplant list but slowly improved. I am a p*ss and stick to Anavar.
For the CrossFit guys. I have nothing against the "chesties" and I can do 18-20 pull-ups and 5 handstands. I did some chesty sets last night and was surprised at the back workout. I am a convert.
Are you a Reg Park disciple? The StrongLifts 5x5 is based on Reg Park's stuff he published in the 50s... Focus on compound movements, and move to isolated exercises later only after you've built the foundation over the course of a year or two...
What do you guys do for cardio?. In high school and college I was 800 meters, now I'm good for around 8 meters.
I have World-class trails outside my door (Tahoe Rim, etc). My metcon is hiking, lap-swimming, bouldering and thrusters. I was a cyclist in my twenties and my VO2Max was in the mid 70s.