uk dude

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/

Hey, I started bodybuilding about a year ago and moved to Tallinn (permanently) about a month ago. I've used Pirita Top Spa and Viimsi Spa gyms (they're the closest to my house). Of these two I prefer Pirita Top because it has a wider range of equipment, but there are a few things I don't like. One is that they don't have any free weights under 5kg (!?) and another is that the place seems to be empty just about all the time. What I'm looking for is recommendations on which gyms I should try next. If there's a well-known gym that Tallinn's bodybuilders prefer then I'd like to go there. I could do with a better workout atmosphere and even to exchange a few words with some locals. Although I live in Pirita I can drive to anywhere in Tallinn. Any and all help would be most appreciated! :-) Cheers, James

In the UK I mainly bought ingredients from an online shop and mixed my own stuff, adding flavoring powder for variety. The preparations I made were pretty standard. * 1hr before workout (variable amounts of whey plus low GI carbs) * immediately before workout (essential amino acids, caffeine or arginine but not both - this tastes superbad) * post workout (0.4g/kg hydrolyzed whey, 10g essential amino acids, 0.8g/kg waxy maize starch, 5g creatine, plus vitamin C, E and selenium tablets) * meal replacement (40g tapered protein blend plus low GI carbs) * bedtime (40g tapered protein mix including micellar casein, plus ZMA tablets) I'm going to drop the arginine because the taste is too bad (even worse than the EAAs) and start putting L-glutamine in everything (which I used to do, but I ran out of the stuff). I also take Animal Pak multivitamins. I bought some stuff over here, but it's not going to last forever. So my questions are * Does my supplementation look OK (Overkill? Something I should be using that I am not? Stuff I'm using wrongly? What do you use?) * Which brands that are available over here are supposed to be the best (e.g. this 'Fast' stuff, which is everywhere, even supermarkets) * Which are the best online and actual shops that people use * What products available over here might suit my needs I look forward to hearing any thoughts you might have! Cheers, James

What I really need is an experienced training partner and/or trainer. About me: training age of 1yr, plenty of theoretical knowledge, good growth rate and potential (so I'm told), plenty of dedication. I can absorb theory endlessly but it can't go as deep as receiving the wisdom of experience from somebody in the flesh. I had a trainer in the UK for a while but they are quite expensive, equivalent to 1,000 EEK per hour minimum. I say expensive because that price can be for someone with little or no experience, just some young skinny chap with a qualification. Admittedly there must have been some better trainers around but in London I couldn't find any competing, ex-competition or coaches of bodybuilders in my locality that offered these services. From a training partner I'd need them to be much bigger (not too hard ) and more experienced than me, so I'm not sure what the benefit to them would be (English language, perhaps? Someone who can help organize their activities? I'm open to suggestions.). From a trainer I'd obviously want someone with a proven track record of inflating the size of his pupils. I'd like some suggestions about * How to find a suitable training partner * Which trainers I should be thinking about contacting Cheers, James

I just joined Reval for a month. OK, so Marek only trains people in the Coral Club gym, I didn't know that.

That sounds good, thanks. When do you train and how might I identify you? I will try to turn up when you are there one day.

Nice.. I managed to get into Kaubamaja to see Indrek Viska on Saturday. Unfortunately he doesn't speak any English at all.

Yeah Cuck is his real name. Only his buddies call him that though.

Great info, and good photos of you both! It looks likely that I will get in touch with him.

Which Marek is in Tartu? I already have other plans for tomorrow, but if something changes I'll turn up. I assume he'll be in the spordimaailm section.

Nice, thanks. So my list now looks like (in no particular order) Marek Kalmus Marek Morozov Ott Kiivikas Richard Lant V.Antsiferov Marko Tooming I appreciate no-one's going to want to say anything negative, but I'm looking for constructive ways to narrow this list down. E.g. Who speaks OK English (it doesn't have to be great)? I don't speak Russian or Estonian. Who has the best proven track record for producing results? (etc)

OK following the treenerid link, these people look good. Marek Kalmus http://www.fitness.ee/main.php?main=treene...;bot=bot.yellow Marek Morozov http://www.fitness.ee/main.php?main=treene...;bot=bot.yellow Ott Kiivikas http://www.fitness.ee/main.php?main=treene...;bot=bot.yellow Richard Lant http://www.fitness.ee/main.php?main=treene...;bot=bot.yellow V.Antsiferov http://www.fitness.ee/main.php?main=treene...;bot=bot.yellow

Hey, thanks for the response. The link doesn't work though!

Which are the well known treenerid that produce good results?

I've only been training a year. In that time I've used supersetting, circuits, drop sets, high intensity, German Volume Training and other stuff. I think that I grew best on high intensity workouts (lower weights but 15-30s rest between sets) or punishingly high volume (but not for many weeks as it burns you out). What I'm following now is the basic 'doggcrapp' style, if you've heard of it. I have two types of workout, and three sets of each type. So I start with A1, then next workout I do B1, then A2, then B2.. etc. The A workouts are: chest, shoulders, triceps, back width, back thickness. The B workouts are: biceps, forearms, calves, hams and quads. Here they are. A1 incline bench press front press close grip bench press pull ups deadlift B1 barbell curls hammer curls seated calf raises romanian deadlift back squats A2 flat bench press shoulder press to rear of head reverse grip bench press chin ups barbell rows B2 alternate db curls reverse grip cable curls standing calf raises seated leg curls leg press A3 decline bench press dumb bell shoulder press upright dips pull downs to front t-bar rows B3 cable curls pinwheel curls calf raises sumo deadlifts front squats The protocol for the exercise is * Calves and forearms - aim to do 1 set of 12 reps with as much weight as possible. same for rows, romanian deadlifts * For chest, shoulders, triceps, biceps and back width exercises I do 3 sets with 20 seconds rest between sets. I aim for the rep ranges 8-12, then 6-8, then 4-6. * For quads I do 4-6 as heavy as I can go, then reduce the weight by 20% and go to complete failure. * For deadlifts I do 6-8 heavy and then 3-4 as heavy as I can manage Each routine takes around 35-45 mins. I normally work out Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I stay with the same weight and do more reps until I am exceeding the rep range targets, in which case I add weight. And so on. The rule is that you must post an increase in volume every session (so each A1 exercise has to beat the previous A1 exercise). If you don't then you change the exercise for that body part. I'm in my 3rd cycle of this routine. Comments?

Yes, that's a good understanding. What can you tell me about Estonian equivalents?

I often don't make 20 squats after the heavier ones, so I'll reduce the weigh to make it a proper 'widowmaker'. On the days I do squats, I do finish with them? I do try to stretch after each exercise and sometimes use weights to assist the stretch. I don't always, but mostly. Lots of questions: How is DC working out for you? What kinds of routines are popular here? Why isn't flat bench press used? What makes a stretch 'extreme'?

OK thanks for the link. It looks like I need to get my Estonian dictionary out (my girlfriend!).

Hello, [i was asked to comment on this thread] offend insult affront outrage These things mean pretty much the same thing at root, which is that somebody was hurt. Native English speakers will know the difference unconsciously, so it's quite difficult to explain. But I will try. Usually I will be 'offended' if someone has wounded me unintentionally. English people usually respond to being offended by being dismissive, haughty and activating other ego-defense mechansims. The person who made the (unintentional) offense will soon pick up some 'weirdness' from the other person (the vibe of the conversation will shift), and will usually come to the conclusion that they 'did someting wrong' - aborting the conversation as-is to enquire about the matter. This is of course the aim of the offended person. Depending on the depth of the percieved offence, the offended person may either explain how they feel or respond with "everything's _fine_ thanks" (meaning that things are definitely not fine and they want to send a strong signal that they are not, but that they don't want to talk about it right now). These things can drag on for quite some time but usually offence is not enough to cause a serious problem for a long long time. If I'm insulted, then someone has said something directed at me personally or at a group that they know I am a member of. The person who said it may or may not consider it offensive (it might just be an observation that they believe to be true that I disagree strongly with), so this again could be unintentional. But it can definitely be intentional too. When intentional the insults are rather blatant and childlike - the aim is to win points. If I'm affronted then I'm feeling that someone is intentionally stepping into a full-blown confrontation with me. A challenge has been laid down which must be responded to (although no response is an option). The affronter is usually looking to dominate the affrontee. It's a difficult position to be in, especially if there are onlookers. There are a variety of response choices here, and none of them are easy. Popular options are accepting the challenge and getting warlike (you think you can win), trying to defuse the situation (mature solution) or refusing to participate (whether or not you are right you think you will lose in some sense). If I'm outraged then I will very likely take some action in response. It's unlikely that I can be outraged by anything except someone deliberately making statements that they know will cause an extreme reaction, or by something that I feel is morally or ethically disgusting. When people are outraged they feel violated and angry. An outraged person or group will almost certainly go on the offensive against the person or group that perpetrated the outrage. These might not be an exact fit with these words' dictionary definitions, but they are reasonable approximations of how they're unconsciously used and understood by English speakers in the UK. English people will often use the stronger words in jest, e.g. 'I'm outraged by that!!!' (said with mock indignation and a smile) when someone says something very mildly controversial. I hope that helps.

Well any opportunity to learn from those guys is a must, so sign me up. How do I make this happen? Are these guys also trainers?

Who does these personal meal plans then? Is it anything different from calculating your basic metabolic rate, daily energy expenditure etc, adding on 500kcal per day and then deciding on a macronutrient breakdown and tracking against the targets every day? This is what I do when I'm being more disciplined. I'll happily give it a shot if you can provide me with some more detail of your experience.

I do have gains right now, and that's why I'm reckoning I have enough. Mind you, I did drop some weight and strength before starting to work out in Estonia as I took a month off (too much to do with regard to moving countries, wrapping UK life up etc - I was exhausted all the time and wasn't eating right either). [Edit: So I'm probably supercompensating or something, which means I can't really tell what the longer term is going to be like] I've already improved on where I left off in some areas though, and in the others I'm getting back into shape. In my month off I lost something like 4kg (yeah I *really* didn't eat properly, AND had many leaving parties..), I've gained approx 3kg of that back now.

I'd say my upper legs have grown very well indeed. I really like leg exercises. The calves are vastly better than when I started, but still nothing to write home about. Biceps and triceps grow pretty good, back looks OK. It's my chest that I feel is really lagging. I didn't do any decline work at all until very recently, maybe that could be it.

I love it! I met my girlfriend, who is Estonian, 3 years ago in London (she was living there). We came over a few times and after we got serious we started thinking why not let's live here? So we planned it for a while and then about a year ago we bought a flat. The previous year has been about getting over here. I persuaded my company to let me work over the internet to my office, and when they agreed we moved. I like the people, the winters, the summers, the cleanliness, the space, the beach, the forests, the look of the ladies, the architecture, the weird food and drink, the old town... super.. I'm sure it has its bad aspects but hey, I'm in a 'honeymoon period' right now.

I couldn't agree more.