carlwhitley

I have some Nike 'England player issue' shorts. They're flexible and durable (rip-stop material). I also have some Adidas 'Climalite' shorts. Not quite as flexible, but very comfortable and durable. But, neither of these have pockets.

There are no tricks, as such. Do you do standing military press? If not, put that in your routine. As Rayman said - more information needed. Current max/reps, what your routine is at the minute.

Monday: gym ~1 hour (weights) Tuesday: gym ~1 hour (weights) Wednesday: rugby training ~2 hours (lots of running) Thursday: rest day Friday: gym ~1 hour (weights), badminton 1 hour Saturday: rugby ~80 minute game, half an hour warm up Sunday: boxing circuits class ~1 hour

There are a couple of those at my gym. There's a chap who walks around and dispenses rubbish advice (whether you want it or not), then does some odd exercises (with terrible form). And he talks to everyone. That just gets on my nerves - don't talk to me when I'm exercising in there - I'll happily chat in reception, but I'm…

You're going to have to wait in turn. Or, if someone is using a similar amount of weight as you, ask to work in with them - they do their set, you adjust the weights, then do your set, adjust the weights. Etc etc.

Do some olympic barbell work. Deadlift Power clean Hang clean It's all about getting a good grip and driving through your legs up and forwards. Keep your arms straight - there' no use in trying to curl the tyres and using your arms too early. Any idea how big the tyres are and how much they weigh?

At the minute, I'm going alone. I occasionally need a spotter on the bench press, but that's all I need a spotter for - everything else, I can bail out of if I fail before I can re-rack. I'll either ask someone else at the gym for a spot, or very rarely, I'll go with a friend who'll push me - but I know exactly what…

It's a 12 week programme. I found doing 5 sets x 5 reps at the working weight difficult. I was OK for 2-3 sets, but after that I either suffered failure of form, or total failure.

I have used it. I did it after my injury rehab had finished and got some decent strength gains, but I began to stall before the programme ended. I'm now on week 3/12 of Madcow, which uses ramped up sets. Just aiming to get my strength up. Then I'll have a cycle of maintaining weight/doing exercises that are different to…

Just to weigh in and add support to people who have advised to pick up the barbell. Feet at shoulder width, keep the knees tracking in a straight line (look in the mirror whilst squatting - that's what it's there for). Squat barefoot if possible, or in shoes that are flat and non-supportive if your gym doesn't like…

I don't compete and I don't think I ever will. I lift for strength in rugby, I'm 5' 9" and weigh 18st 3lbs ( 255lbs), but I'm currently losing weight and want to lose another 25-30lbs. After various injuries; all rugby related, I've started lifting again. Both MCLs ruptured, right PCL ruptured, right ACL stretched…

All of the above. If you have access to fast-foot ladders, have a look at some drills on youtube - all that explosiveness will need control! With the box jumps, you can jump up to the box and also jump down - when you jump down, try to land then immediately sprint 5m.

I was going to jump in an suggest the stronglift/madcow programme. Basically, compound barbell moves and it'll encourage you to lift more, whilst also giving you a progression that you can see. As a prop (I'm a hooker that sometimes moves over to prop), deadlift and squat will be your best exercises for building power.…

Booooooooooo! Does this mean you could compete and get a shiny new record?

I play hooker. My maintstay of weightlifting exercises are... Powerclean and press Deadlift Bench press Squat Seated overhead press I also do Dips Close grip pulldown Leg press Hamstring curl Biceps curl Spider curl DB shoulder press Incline bench press I find that the powerclean and press is a very good dynamic exercise…

I'm Carl. 33 years old, from Derbyshire, UK. I try to be as active as I can, day to day. I play rugby union, am a keen badminton player, run a fair bit and have a black belt in taekwon-do. More recently, I've decided that, as I got fitter at rugby, I needed a little more strength, so I started training at my local gym.…

I was going to say that you'd end up with quads the size of tree trunks in no time! Good core exercises too, recuiting lots of muscle fibres (assuming that you're not compromising form for a couple of extra lbs on the bar). I've got a broken finger at the minute (a rugby injury) so I'm struggling to do any pulling…

I'm Carl. Also a Union fan. I'm English, so support them. Also support any of the home nations if they're playing another home nation internationally. I don't really support any club team, but I mainly watch Leicester Tigers as they're the closest to me. I play and coach the game at grassroots level (men and women), so I…

Hello! Squats on both days? Is that common? Good core lifting workout there though.

Impressive stuff :-) Do you plan on attempting to smash that record? Silly question, but, in terms of competition; is that 225.7lbs NOT including the bar?