Apparently sports central changed their whole shit around? I haven't been in for a few months since my back went out.

New* machines from the girls only area and did something with that area?

Gym's gotten a bit nicer, I'm liking it. As for the girls side, they've turned it into an MMA area, Dynamic MMA. It's like they went back in time, like when Ironcity was still around

damn..wish I kept my membership. Lost the motivation.

heres the vid of my squat

Club 16 in Surrey just expanded..

All new cardio machines added.. no new squat racks or cable pulley machines.. wtf mang.

Sick of having to wait for em.

:seriously:

Just got a shoulder impingement from a day I wasn't planning on working out (did hypertrophy, bodybuilding work), and it hurts to raise my arm anywhere near shoulder level.

Pretty fucking pissed because I'm on the last week of my program; been hitting volume PRs for the past month, and was scheduled to test my 1RM next week. 315-320 was looking extremely realistic at ~160lb (did 300x2 @ RPE8 after 2 hours of squatting).

Fuck life

signed up at the new one today..
apparently they will have 2 squat racks :okay:

so much hidden fees. opening jan 6
$16 a month (1 location)
$20 for a card.
$9 pre-registration fee instead of $99.
$29 annual fee during may.
+$20 optional (price arrangement grandfathering fee)

If you're still doing bench press, stop. There are so many ways to build the chest without that unnatural movement which inherently puts your shoulders in a position that easily fucks them up, and also creates a huge imbalance of anterior strength after a while.

What would you recommend as a substitute?

I follow Chad Waterbury's programs, this is what his book includes for chest work (it's a total body program):

Decline close grip bench press
Dumbbell incline bench press
Cable standing chest press
Various pushups
Dips

Also some of them have one-arm variants (one arm dumbbell bench press, one arm cable press, etc) as there is always an iso-lateral day in this program.

Here's his post on the bench press: Should You Bench Press? | Chad Waterbury | Transforming Through Performance

Depends on your goals of course. If you're going for a big number in "the big three" then obviously you have to do it. IMO it's not worth the risk for most people though.

I've been working ridiculous hours at work this past 6 months. Only been able to hit the gym once or twice a week - looking to get back to 4 days a week from here on out.

Stats: 183lbs; ~12% body fat (was 190lbs at around 9-10% before)

Did a full 2 hour long workout yesterday, was able to hit 7 reps with 225 lbs on the bench. bar to chest

Did squats, ended up doing 225 lbs for 15 reps and then 315 lbs a couple reps.

deadlifts were good. 315 lbs for 10 reps. 405 lbs for 5 reps.

did pull ups until fail, bent over rows, some shoulder presses and cleans to end it off.

needless to say, my whole body feels like jelly today. this is a feeling i havent had in a long time, boy does it feel amazing

i've been benching for 6+ years with no problem. those shoulder problems are caused by benching with no retracted scapulas (i.e. flat upper back)

and anterior strength? what movements require you to use your arms behind you lol

Good job on the 6+ years... As for flat bench press being good or bad, I just leave it to the professionals.

As for not needing anterior strength to do pulling motions, I'm not sure how to respond to that.. So I won't in case you're trolling :nyan:

everyone knows you need to equal your benching volume with upperbody pulling volume...pretty much everyone i know who benches heavy also does alot of pulling volume as well.

I agree about the bench press part, but following the logic of your statement would make me assume that those exercises are safer in comparison, and do not lead to dominant anterior strength

The goal here is strength with the eventual goal of competing before I turn 23, not hypertrophy. So....completing avoiding the exercise is not really an option.

And for the record I did not injure my shoulder doing the bench press, which has been a trouble-free movement ever since I started lifting. As mentioned, the majority of people who report shoulder pain from bench press almost always has an incorrect approach to the exercise (e.g. flat back, flaring elbows, etc).

Sorry for noob status here, but when you say flat back bench, what you mean is you should be bringing your shoulder blades together while you bench, right? Like pull the shoulder blades together to push the chest out

Yeah I wrote that before fact checking, and confused the issue. I was thinking of the muscles that move the scapulae... Since you're pushing your shoulder blades together and down into the bench, they aren't being used. I assume this is what makes it bad.

I don't claim to be an expert, just sharing what I've read here and there... So many people fuck up their shoulders, and I just think it's something that could be shared more often.

shoulder blades retracted and down (towards your ass)

benching with a flat back is dangerous as hell for your shoulders, its probably why so many people get shoulder injuries that way

Tested my 1RMs today. got a total of 1090lbs at 154lbs . 425lb squat, 230lb bench, 435lb deadlift.
deadlift is 6lbs below my PR in competition at 144lbs.

nice lifting man. what gym is that?

have not posted in here in a while but past year switched my grip on my bench. never got 5 plates was so close but i am getting 3 plates for 19-21 reps and incline 3 plates for 12 plus

ps....sid you are fucking strong dude

BCIT gym. bouncing back and forth between this gym and Fortius behind 8 rinks.

Do you ever do dips? That would be something to see