Hello guys…
Frustrated human being here…
Wonder if any of you experienced this before & if you have any useful tips on it or just to discuss it…
So recently circumstances got me to change my city so changed my gym. But my gym was
like almost my whole life&routine.
I had my established corners to the old gym etc and the thing is that the new gym has broken,old equipment, not even a smith machine that played a very important role to my routine and i have no other gym near me to go.
My problem is the difficulty to reestablish my routine. I have no motivation to go to this environment even if it still can provide decent workouts… ive been used to better and modern things(not exaggerations), but for example the cleanliness and it doesnt provide space for free lifts, even if i found a way to work around it. Thats the thing it bothers me that i have to find a way because i feel like my sessions arent enough that they lack quality.
Am i exaggerating?
In a word? Probably.
I think I’ve made 6-7 gym swaps over the years, sometimes to better facilities, sometimes to worse or just different.
One thing I’ve noticed: when I’m forced to change exercises or machines, I get incredibly sore. While soreness isn’t necessarily an indicator of progress, it does tell me I was “missing” some muscles or parts of muscles. Having to use a new triceps machine did that to me recently. I didn’t like it, wasn’t sure I was feeling it, but 24 hours later I was wrecked in a good way (probably because I put more tension on a different head of the triceps compared to my last favorite triceps exercise.) After a few workouts, I got used to it and learned how to get the most from that machine.
So, you could think of it as a opportunity: learn new stuff, correct some imbalances, give your joints a break with some new angles, create a new stimulus/challenge, etc.
It pays to have a big toolbox in these cases. We have tons of content for every goal and muscle group filled with new or different exercises. And sometimes those replacement moves trigger some new adaptations and become staples.
With lacking equipment, for example, you might want to invest in a landmine device and learn some new exercises if you haven’t tried that before, assuming you can find a space. Info:
We have some VERY creative people on this site getting pretty dang strong while likely working with less. Post some photos or a list of some equipment you have access to and I’m sure there will be some suggestions flying your way.
Is there something heavy at this gym that you can pick up and put over your head? (Barbell, dumbbells, KBs, sandbags, etc.) On the note of sandbags, I think one could become a pretty scary individual by getting creative with a heavy sandbag.
@Chris_Shugart
Thanks so much for taking the time and actually reading & understanding…
Yes, i have found space with effort, i had to ask it from the owner to move some things, and he looked unwilling at first like his crap is great and my changes would cause the problem. Landmine will do and fortunately it can give excellent solutions.
You know whats worrying me that not having the smith machine will affect my back rows for example because smith provided the stability i need to feel the back.
Little details that cause a chaos in my mind when it comes on effectiveness.
With all the moving thing while i had 6 pull ups in my tank now i cant do any single of it and they dont have the assisted pull up to build it again for example.
T Nation will provide me i know,in my old gym was performing every single article and had people coming to me asking this and that and proudly pointing to the site.Im following T Nation for about six years and now i decided to share this with you to start with.
To tell you the truth its sentimental too when it comes to my old gym …
well, it seems you havent faced this type of situations before
I think you misunderstand my comment.
You are probably overreacting because there are people in Africa literally training with pipes and poured concrete, and they still look jacked. You ever seen an African chicken? They’re emaciated.
Your gym may not have everything you want, but if it has weights, you can still train and progress - even if it’s easy to turn your nose up at.
So I still stand by my assessment of:
I’ve trained in 20+ gyms over the years. Some had nothing more than a couple barbells and plates, some were elite level gyms. I made gains in both.
made a mistake my answer was for @Chris_Shugart comment
I wish there would be bags…
Yes there are barbells there they are 20kgs they do the job and if its not much i will post some of the exercises i used to do and see if there are alternatives someone can find while of corse will search it too…
What troubles me is that they dont have space for heavy deadlifts they have tiny space that pretty much everybody walks and they can easily poke u and im afraid to load it from 100+kg cause nobody looks like they care… i should try db deadlifts for this maybe but the thing with those is that u miss the raw strength that a pure deadlift gives u
I get your point but the muscle is targeted better if u have a good machine or iron for this purpose than just random things u lift
Anyway i will keep the didactical tip that if u want u can make gains wherever
Should it really matter to you whether anyone cares how much you have on the bar?
Load it, pick it up, put it down, repeat.
Priorities.
Not to blow it all off, but sounds like it doesn’t matter if you’re exaggerating or not. If you don’t have a choice, then that’s your gym and that’s your equipment and we’ll have to find lifts that work.
I have gone through a similar thing. I started off my life training in the garage with my dad using just a barbell, dumbbells and a Lat Pulldown and then I bought a gym membership and got spoiled by the use of different machines and a lot more equipment and right now I’m up in Canada with my wife and I’ve been training in my brother-in-law’s home gym for half the year the last two years.
It’s pretty well equipped for a garage gym, but not at all compared to my normal gym. But through creativity and determination, I’ve been doing Mountain Dog training programs primarily in this environment, which normally calls for a lot of equipment, but I’ve been getting it done with minimal equipment. Just try simulate the movements you did before and find very close approximations with the equipment available to you or just start doing a different program that matches your goals but also matches the equipment you have available to you. You’re not screwed, you may even get stronger, more jacked and more smarterer!
When/if insecure - Do your reading. Study different training techniques/programs, preferably with your available equipment as a guide. I believe Dan John University has a calculator for this which can be useful? The only thing that matters is how to preserve training consistency - Whether it may be with barbells, dumbbells, machines, kettlebells, bands or bodyweight!
During the holidays I was unable to do my regular training, and thought it was to be an unintended lay off. As it turned out, I joined my partner (a training instructor) on a few group training HIIT classes (we even brought the kids along) for a socially accepted solution. And guess what - When I recently reentered my regular powerbuilding training - I hadn’t lost any strength at all!
I never get fixated on a specific gym, rather change gyms often for variety.
@pettersson
Thank you for al the tips and advices, will do.
You are right but its not so much insecurity as a general fear of
not following exact routine steps that has me.
You must be careful of corse to avoid an accident. You have to be aware of the surroundings and have “sympathy” for every lifter, i always watch my steps and moves, cause an accidental hit to somebody who is concentrated to the lift can hurt him/her.
Especially when u are in crowded or tiny spaces that both of the gyms are, so its super easy to bump on someone who trains chest etc
Youre right, but usually i want to cry a little first and then face the facts.
The thing is that stability plays an important role and is the core of my training,this and the slow motion to not hurry to do the reps just for the reps and now that i dont have specific machines to make me,even if I can’t anymore to stay there and get the strict extra rep in, is more difficult to stay and endure.
For example, smith machine squats u go slow, and u target specific muscle groupa, with a free squat(assuming u will not be hit by any other around there and make it to the top) is the thing that the whole body works, i dont want the whole body,i want quads&glutes and free squats doesnt offer it the way the smith offers it.
Maybe landmine will solve this problem, but i cant hit so much big weight here cause of the set up whatsoever…
Another problem is the bulgarian split squat that in the smith ive found the right corners,how to set myself to only feel it in the right places and now i cant do it free movement. Smith keeps u locked which isnt wrong in many cases. Maybe i will do backward lunges but still they cant beat bulgarians…
haha exactly, you get my point, you getting spoiled and then back to the bar that it cant even hold right the plates … at least i have the safety locks so dont care about it so much…
Can i ask you how to imitate hack squat?
Of corse with extentions, but what else to keep me locked because i cant use smith either there… maybe with landmine squats? But which side do i have to load it to?
Also how i can build me pull ups again?
I cant do a single free pull up and my way of building it was to use the assisted machine first… now cant even lift myself up from the starting position.
Thank you for taking the time and answering me, soldier is up and will do! It was good to know some other lifting human gets me! Keep up the great work!!
It’s not your routine that matters, not really. Your effort and consistency (in diet/training) is 90% of what gets you there.
We like to argue about the other 10% here, but Pareto Principle still stands true. There’s a million ways to get jacked.
If i dont target specific stubborn muscles the exact way ive been targetting them i
know i
will have a problem of growing them thats why the routine plays important role but you are right and thats what im gonna try.