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Ah right - my bad, i'm still trying to get my head round where all the numbers are coming from!

Think i'll only really be keeping an eye on weight / fat % - if I make an effort I should be losing fat far quicker that i'd ever put on muscle, even when I start training more again, so both should hopefully start going down.

@ChainBreaker - yeah, this is quite interesting if you can access it https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10693914/

BMI was originally established in the 19th century by a statistician and rebranded in the 21st century by a physiologist for capitalist and research benefits [1,2]. Neither of these individuals were medical professionals.

That's BMI (body mass index) - Basal Metabolic Rate - the amount of daily energy needed to sustain the given mass at the specified composition (I think - i'm just entering the rabbit hole with this stuff)

haha, cheers - was easier than I thought!

Hadn't thought about that actually, I don't know how the algorithm works - i'm guessing the basal metabolic rate must be calculated before the "athlete" conversion is factored in as muscle burns ~3x more energy than fat per kg... I should have another biscuit just in case it is all muscle

I had been looking at body mass analyser scales for a bit but reports of wild innacuracy put me off (I used to be ~5-6kg lighter when I did more cycling, now i'm doing more strength work so was curious how much of the weight gain was lard & how much was lean mass). Bumped into a colleague the other day who has a professional grade body mass analyser in their lab & decided to give that a quick whirl out of curiosity.

Tried it on the "standard" & "athlete" settings to see what the difference was, on this setup though i'm pretty sure the "athlete" setting is for actual athletes & not just your average punter who goes to the gym a few times per week, so definitely more like 22.7% cheese than 14% I can use this setup anytime so i'm gonna try & use it as a motivational tool to keep me on the right track as I want to try and shed a couple of kg (although i'm away on holiday in 10 days so that's fucked) but at least I now have a decent baseline to work from.

That's almost as good as Gary Busey's famous buttered sausage monologue - some of his finest work imho

Link? Had a look but can't find it

Edit see it now - ta!

Always fancied one of those, nice practical setup

From Glasgow School of Art degree show (artist unknown) - also possible bike porn, depending on your commotion-lotion preferences

Nice - I've used this kind of stainless cage on a few bikes & they've generally always worked well, the colour would look pretty stealthy on that - they're out there under loads of different names for about £10

Wide (er than most) and loud

Good point - Hobnob intake has increased slightly, other than that i'm probably eating enough (and healthy enough) to cover it - partial to the odd chocolate protein shake (with milk) for breakfast a few days per week for convenience too so should be getting enough protein. I used to commute a lot more up until the last year or two so hopefully my legs will bounce back a bit once the shock wears off.

That's a great link - loads of info!

I vaguely remember reading about training while slightly fatigued in relation to RPE, main jist was how your muscles don't know what is on the bar, so if you're regularly training to 9-9.5 percieved exertion then it's still good for progress regardless if you need to lower the weight a bit.

On that basis I might drop to 3x3 & keep adding weight on the heavy day (maybe add in pull ups), then drop 10% or so the next session & increase the reps. Good shout about the cable row - haven't done those in a while & used to quite like them.

@ChainBreaker Cheers! When I first started weights again I couldn't have imagined 100kg squats, never mind bench, but 1kg at a time adds up eventually - i'll try a couple of weeks of 3x3 @ 92/94/96kg then see how I feel, it's been nice & steady up 'till now & the last thing I need is an injury.

Onward & upwards!

Hi all - quelle surprise - I need a bit of advice on restructuring my training again... was going pretty well for a while but since adding a few midweek rides back into the mix i'm struggling a bit.

Can only make the gym twice per week, currenly either Monday/Tuesday & Thursdays - not ideal for getting hench AF but i'm 45 so neither is that. Sticking to the big barbell stuff & trying to do full body(ish) both days but varying weight / reps a bit to accomodate.

Currently doing 3x5 Bench (90kg), Squat (125kg), Press (60kg), Row (80kg) - i'm ~78kg for reference so reasonably happy where I am at present, been adding a kilo every week or two for the last couple of months but starting to struggle a bit having started cycling again - probably not getting a proper recovery as i'm doing something pretty much every day, the rides are fairly easy 20 milers but it all adds up to more fatigue.

Do I struggle on until I get used to the extra load, but concentrate on maintaining the current weights for now - or do I drop to 3x4 / 3x3 and try to keep adding a kilo or so every other week, more weight but less reps = less volume?

I know my situation is far from ideal & there's always going to be a compromise but I don't want to go backwards - what would you do? I probably want to prioritise bench as i've made decent progress with that & want to get a 1rm at 100kg (just beacuse) but my squats will probably need to drop a bit to accomodate the cycling - shoulder press & row are never going to be optimal due to the bench press on the same day, so happy to mix those up

Cheers folks, pretty chuffed with the final article - pretty much everything i need (ever needed?) from an MTB if I'm honest, not often I draw a line under a bike & say "done" but here we are

3 years already & as predicted, this hasn't seen as much action as i'd hoped - although this year i'm planning on changing that with the assistance of a small child who likes mud & cakes and can now handle easy trail centre stuff.

Final few changes in the shape of SIDs (not blue ones), a Thomson dropper & some Vittoria Barzos which are fine for the fair-weather trail centre stuff it'll probably see most & we're officially done.

.

Nice build - I still regret selling my 853 Volare, great bikes... promised myself if a stainless one ever popped up i'd replace it in a second

First time I tried creatine was a few years ago & felt a bit bloated at the time, maybe a bit constipated too - back on it again (different brand) & been totally fine, no idea why but making decent progress so will keep on it and see how it goes, I'm sceptical that any one brand is different to the next, might be wrong though!

Still trying to get used to the wild face tingles from the pre workout though, apparently that's from b-alanine - it's supposed to help buffer lactic acid build up so again, I'll keep at it & trust it's doing something beneficial.

Managed to add almost 10kg onto my bench (3x5) since Christmas so something seems to be working, early nights are probably the most important factor though.

Nice - they always get great reviews, I was watching a pair on ebay a while back (can't remember model) & thought they might have stayed beneath the radar as it was collection only, thought i was in luck but the £200 bid shot to £700 in the last few seconds

Nice - I think that general area is very underappreciated compared to the north west, always hearing glowing reports about the riding & scenery.

We're on the edge of Renfrewshire & I work in Glasgow, there's a great cycle path round the corner which used to be an old railway line so it's smooth & flat most of the way, then Paisley rd is flat & pretty wide the rest of the way, especially at 6:30am because I cannot deal with rush hour traffic

I have a pair of sks that will fit but probably not over these tyres, will see if I miss them before deciding - there is still a surprising amount of clearance with the 32s though

It's just under 20 miles each way to work & I got fed up of commuting in the rain a few years ago so I tend to pick & chose my days now - a bold strategy in the West of Scotland perhaps but hey ho!

Don't worry, i'm not actually going to ride it!

Nah, it's all good - there are absolutely no hills between my house & work so it's fine - i'm also using a freewheel instead of fixed, i'm not completely mental

Bump time - picked this up for commuting duties after consolidating a couple of bikes (don't need a couple of grand's worth of bike sitting gathering dust when a 200 quid one will collect just as much, and i'm not paranoid about locking this up outside)

2017 Flyer - pretty much stock apart from the 32c GK slicks, Tektro RRL levers to replace the distinctly unpleasant stock ones (BDHU), a Fabric saddle & some very minimal but shiny Exustar spds.
Wasn't too enamoured with the black/white colour scheme at first, but the "black" decals are crazy reflective so it's growing on me.

Brake calipers aren't the greatest but they'll do for now - can't remember if i'd get away with normal drop calipers maxed out or if i'd need long drops? Anyway - that's problem for another day, main thing is it rides really nice & in my head actually feels lighter that my old 2018 Flyer did...

Planning a couple of days in Peebles at the start of April - any good short / fun routes that would suit a 7yo?

I know there's plenty at GT to keep us occupied but we're taking the dug too - so quieter natural "mixed" trails would be great as the other half won't be cycling.

I'm always paranoid of failing spectacularly on squats (well, as spectacularly as a couple of 10kg plates hitting the deck could go), especially with a dodgy knee - I've seriously considered just falling over backwards once or twice to get the bar as far away from me as possible 😂

Had a proper fight with my last rep on the bench press earlier in the week too - was like a shitty movie effect, fuzzy hearing / tunnel vision, and of course the obligatory Hulk Hogan shaky arms - luckily the safety bars sit at a perfect height so it gives loads of confidence to push it a bit more, 90kg for reps now looking achievable

Might be worth a watch for someone, would make a great posh commuter - large Enigma Etape in Surrey

[https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256399567606?)